England Under-19s slipped 2-1 behind in the five-match series after Jake Doran’s century helped Australia to a three-wicket victory with a ball to spare at Murdoch University in Perth.
The 18-year-old struck 102 off 136 deliveries, sharing in a third-wicket stand of 150 with half-centurion Sam Harper, to frustrate England after a shaky start.
Although Doran was dismissed in the 47th over with 26 runs required, an unbeaten 14 from Henry Thornton got the hosts over the line.
England lost the toss and were soon in trouble at 22 for two, but skipper Joe Weatherley, Aneurin Donald, Callum Taylor and Aaron Thomason all contributed with the bat.
Donald made one more than Weatherley’s 47 while Taylor and Thomason hit half-centuries, the latter’s unbeaten, to lift England to 241 for seven.
Weatherley and Donald added 70 for the third wicket following the early dismissals of Max Holden and Haseeb Hameed.
The pair departed in the space of five overs, though, leaving Taylor and Thomason with the responsibility of lifting their side to a competitive total.
Taylor and Thomason relished the opportunity, taking the score from 114 to 193 until the former departed for 61, his second consecutive fifty, while Thomason finished with an unbeaten 66.
Saqib Mahmood’s double blow left Australia’s reply struggling on 11 for two in the fifth, only for Harper and Doran to ride to the rescue.
They did so until the 35th over, when Taylor dismissed Harper for 67, before England chipped away to reduce their opponents to 227 for seven in the 48th.
However, just when England looked to seize their opportunity, Thornton struck a six and a four to take his side to victory.
England Development Programme coach Iain Brunnschweiler said: “We’ve been involved in a fantastic nail-biting game of cricket here today. When matches go down to the wire and there is high pressure, there is always a huge amount to learn, whether you win or lose.
"The boys have done many things extremely well today, starting with a couple of excellent partnerships. Firstly between Joe Weatherley and Aneurin Donald after we lost a couple of wickets early on, and then between Callum Taylor and Aaron Thomason, to post a very competitive total.
“We played with some real intent and we felt that 241 gave us a chance of victory if we could nail our skills with the ball and in the field.
“Saqib Mahmood and Jared Warner really set the tone up front with the new ball, and Saqib was well-deserving of his wickets. However, Doran and Harper batted very well during their big partnership.
“We put in our best performance so far as a fielding unit and managed to put the squeeze on, getting the run-rate up going into the last 10 overs.
“Unfortunately we just failed to execute our plans and the Aussie batters managed to get their team over the line with a couple of balls to spare.
“Clearly everyone is gutted to have lost out in such a tight game but playing pressurised games of cricket that go right down to the wire is exactly what we are here for, and once the guys pick themselves up and reflect on the game they are bound to take some positives from the experience.”
Thomason told ecb.co.uk:“We are really disappointed as a team. It was a tough toss to lose, we wanted to bowl first. The way we started first up was pretty good, even though we lost a couple of wickets, we kept the run-rate up.
“There was a crucial partnership between Joe Weatherley and Aneurin Donald, and then me and Callum Taylor helped to keep the run-rate up as we went along. I think we ended up with a competitive score.
“It was a tight one, the lads did well to get it to that stage. I think at one point we looked to be dead and buried, but with the fight we have got we came back into a great position to win the game.
“Unfortunately it didn’t happen. They just got over the line, we were all gutted with that. Overall, from the first ODI to the third ODI, we have come a long way in terms of performance.”