Australia vs England 2018, 1st ODI - Hits and misses

As the action between Australia and England shifted from Tests to limited-overs, the touring party saw a reversal in their fortunes and finally managed to end their win drought Down Under.

Riding on Jason Roy's 180 and Joe Root's unbeaten 91, England outplayed Australia by 5 wickets and secured a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series in Melbourne on Sunday.

The second ODI will be played in Brisbane on Friday.

Now, let us look at the hits and misses from the 1st ODI.

Miss: David Warner

The dead MCG wicket, used during the Boxing Day Test was strongly criticised by the ICC therefore, the deck selected for the first ODI was somewhat lively with a hint of grass on it.

England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first.

Mark Wood, who missed Ashes because of injury, delivered a ferocious opening spell of pace and bounce and Australia's attacking opener David Warner could not handle it.

Warner top-edged a short-pitched delivery from the English pacer, that came in at a speed of 142 km/h, putting Australia on the back-foot in the second over.

Soon, Australia looked vulnerable at 78/3 but Aaron Finch bided his time against Wood to build up a solid partnership with Mitchell Marsh to take the hosts to 304/8.

Hit: Joe Root

England opener Jason Roy was the star of the day with his breathtaking 180 but, he was ably assisted by Test skipper Joe Root.

Root stitched up a 221-run partnership with Jason Roy as the visitors trounced the high-flying hosts in the first ODI at the MCG.

The 27-year-old hit a well-paced half-century and held on to one end as Roy was tormenting the Aussie bowlers with the power-hitting.

Root, who was often criticised for not converting starts during the Test series, missed his ton by 9 runs and remained unbeaten on 91 off 110 balls as England finally won a game against Australia Down Under.

Miss: Mitchell Starc

In an absolute contrast to the recently-concluded Ashes Test series, Australian pace battery was completely ineffective against the hard-hitting English batsmen.

Mitchell Starc, who wreaked havoc in the longest format of the game until a few days ago, looked totally out of the place in the 50-over cricket.

A lot is expected out of Starc as he is Steven Smith's go-to man as far as tormenting the oppositions' batsmen are concerned but the pacer could not make waves with his lacklustre performance.

Although the 27-year-old, who gave away 71 runs in 10 overs, ended up dismissing Jason Roy, it was too late as the damage had already been done.

Hit: Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch scored his ninth ODI century and his second in his last five 50-over games, to leave England chasing a target of 305 in series-opener in Melbourne.

After being sent in to bat by Eoin Morgan, Finch (107) combined forces with Mitchell Marsh (50) to bring up a 118-run partnership as the hosts reached 304/8 from their 50 overs.

Interestingly, the Australian opener has faced England thrice at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and on all three occasions, he has ended up scoring a ton.

The 31-year-old, who brought up his century off 112 balls, also became the joint fourth-fastest Australian to score 3,000 ODI runs.

Hit: Jason Roy

England opener Jason Roy showcased an absolute masterclass on how to chase a total as he brought up his 4th ODI ton and 1st against Australia.

The 27-year-old entered the record books as he scored 180 off 151 balls eclipsing Alex Hales' 171 to register the highest score by an Englishman in ODI cricket.

Playing his 49th ODI, Roy was at his imperious best as he punished Australian bowlers with five sixes and 16 fours.

Roy's match-winning knock is also the highest ODI score ever made at the MCG as the previous record was held by Mark Waugh, who made 173 against the West Indies.