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Mahli Beardman demolished the England batting line-up with his pace, picking up five wickets in just 28 balls on his ODI debut in Perth.
Beardman was introduced into the attack in the 10th over when England had just lost Tom Banton and were 38-2, with Ben Duckett falling to Spencer Johnson early on. He built on the pressure in his first over, delivering a maiden to Joe Root before dismissing Harry Brook with a 141 kph delivery that angled in and nipped away in the next. With his foot going nowhere, Brook could only edge the ball to wicketkeeper Josh Inglis.
It was Root’s turn next, who drove at a delivery angling away, only to edge it to the keeper. With two of their best batters gone, England were in tatters, but Beardman’s spell had just begun. He made life worse for the visitors, sending back Jordan Cox and Sam Curran in his next over. While Cox nicked one behind with his poor footwork, Curran was undone by a well-directed 143.2 kph bouncer and was caught at fine leg.
Beardman continued to have fun on his ODI debut, dismissing Liam Dawson in his next over and completing a stunning five-wicket haul in just 28 balls. England were reduced from 38-2 to 60-7 in no time. Fittingly, the debutant picked up the last wicket of the innings, dismissing Jofra Archer and finishing with figures of 6-24, the best for an Australian on debut.
This extraordinary performance put Beardman in elite company, making him just the second Australia bowler in history to claim a five-wicket haul on ODI debut — a feat first accomplished by Tony Dodemaide back in 1988 against Sri Lanka.
Player |
Bowling figures |
Team |
Opposition |
Venue |
Year |
Charlie Cassell |
7-21 |
Scotland |
Oman |
Dundee |
July 2024 |
Kagiso Rabada |
6-16 |
South Africa |
Bangladesh |
Mirpur |
July 2015 |
Fidel Edwards |
6-22 |
West Indies |
Zimbabwe |
Harare |
November 2003 |
Mahli Beardman |
6-24 |
Australia |
England |
Perth |
November 2026 |
Lyle Robertson |
6-52 |
Scotland |
Canada |
Dundee |
August 2026 |
Jan Frylinck |
5-13 |
Namibia |
Oman |
Windhoek |
April 2019 |
Tony Dodemaide |
5-21 |
Australia |
Sri Lanka |
Perth |
January 1988 |
Uvais Karnain |
5-26 |
Sri Lanka |
New Zealand |
Moratuwa |
March 1984 |
Austin Codrington |
5-27 |
Canada |
Bangladesh |
Durban |
February 2003 |
Taskin Ahmed |
5-28 |
Bangladesh |
India |
Mirpur |
June 2014 |
England were ultimately skittled for just 131 runs in the 34th over. Gus Atkinson, who came out to bat at 10, was their top scorer, scoring an unbeaten 29 off 32 deliveries with three fours and a six.
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