England vs Australia 2018: 5 Talking Points from 5th ODI

#1 England's depth overcomes Australia's best

Australia could find it particularly hard to recover from such a close defeat

Unlike in the preceding four matches, Australia came up with a gallant performance in a bid to avoid ignominy. The bowlers put on a spirited showing right throughout their defence. Aside from the embarrassment accompanying the series result, the agonisingly narrow defeat might just leave a sour note in the visitors' morale. After all, even their best effort in the tour thus far failed to take them across the line.

On the other hand, England should be delighted with the outcome of this game for a multitude of reasons. Notwithstanding the record-breaking exploits in the previous encounters, their susceptibility on sluggish pitches reared during the top-order meltdown. While such a collapse could have spelt doom for most other lineups, their remarkable batting depth came to the fore. The lower-order's capacity to contribute vital runs should hold them in good stead in the near future.