Warne and Vaughan react to Australia's shocking collapse during England defeat

Shane Warne and Michael Vaughan hailed England’s bowlers and captain Eoin Morgan after they produced a brilliant comeback to beat Australia by 24 runs in the second ODI and level the three-match series.

The tourists looked well on their way to a series-clinching victory at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday as they moved to 144-2 in pursuit of England’s 231-9.

But the dismissals of Aaron Finch (73) and Marnus Labuschagne (48) led to an extraordinary collapse in which Australia lost four wickets for three runs and were eventually bowled out for 207.

‘Australia will rue a few things tonight,’ legendary leg-spinner Warne told Sky Sports. ‘I thought they were outstanding for large parts of the game.

‘They were cruising there, but it just shows you what wickets can do because it wasn’t easy for the new batters coming in.

‘England were outstanding, what a spell of bowling it was from Woakes and Archer, and Eoin Morgan’s captaincy was fantastic.

‘But that is a punch in the gut for Australia.’

England produced a similarly unlikely win during their recent T20 international series against Australia – which they won 2-1 – with the tourists failing to score 38 from 36 balls with eight wickets in hand in the second match.

Former England captain Vaughan added: ‘There’s something about this England side – it’s happened in the last year or two.

‘They just never know when they are beaten. They change games with pure belief and wonderful skill.

‘Australia, what can I say? It was done. They should have won the series tonight. It’s a concern for Aaron Finch and Justin Langer.’

On a used pitch, England were reduced to 149-8 in Southampton with the excellent Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins troubling the hosts’ top-order.

Tom Curran (37) and Adil Rashid (35*) shared a vital 76-run partnership for the ninth-wicket and scored 33 off the final two overs to get England up to 231.

Jofra Archer dismissed David Warner and Marcus Stoinis early but a 107-run stand between Finch and Labuschagne steered Australia into a dominant position.

Both fell in quick succession, however, and Australia’s middle-order collapsed as the run-rate soon went above a run-a-ball.

Alex Carey attempted to salvage the situation but his resistance was finally ended in the penultimate over as he was stumped with Australia still well short of the target.

England skipper Morgan said: ‘It’s definitely a confidence booster for the team.

‘That’s as well as we’ve bowled for a while. We took advantage of conditions, but full credit to the guys. Our group of four seamers were outstanding.’

Australia’s Finch, meanwhile, added: ‘England squeezed us – they bowled a really good length. It was hard to hit boundaries but I’m still very disappointed.’

The series decider takes place on Wednesday.

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