England Learning Disability suffered their first defeat of the series as Australia reduced the deficit to 2-1 with a 22-run victory in the first one-day international.
Dan Bowser’s heroics with bat and ball had helped England win both Twenty20 internationals.
The 26-year-old from Devon today took 2-17 as Australia were restricted to 110 for six in a match reduced from 40 to 30 overs per side.
But with British consul general Gareth Hoar in attendance, England failed to build on Lee Stenning’s 43-ball 23 as they mustered 88 for nine in reply.
There are three one-day internationals left in the series, which is taking place in and around Melbourne, with the next match taking place tomorrow.
“Coming off the back of two really strong performances, the immediate emotion is one of disappointment,” England head coach Derek Morgan said of the loss.
“We entered the game full of confidence, but the plans that we set today were undermined a little bit and we didn’t perform the way we would have expected with bat and ball, but more particularly with the bat.
“Some of the guys stepped forward with the ball. We overpitched on occasion, but at half-time we were happy with what we’d achieved.
“We’ve worked hard to create a routine. Today we just didn’t deliver the skills we needed at key times in the game and we didn’t utilise conditions as well as the Australians.
“There are areas we want to be a little bit better at tomorrow. The boys are naturally a little bit disappointed, but are looking forward to the opportunity to put things right.”