Australia’s sandpaper soap opera has become one of alternative facts but recollections of this second game in the one-day international series are unlikely to differ too greatly. For Tom Banton and Gus Atkinson, architects of an emphatic 135-run victory for England under lights on Sunday it was a match to remember. Banton was sublime after England were stuck in, unfurling a crisp 121 from just 99 balls to underpin an imposing total of 355 for six. No touring side had ever gone bigger against Australia in their own back yard – the ideal platform for Harry Brook’s pace attack to release the handbrake and level this three-match series. Continue reading...