Stuart Broad’s 24th birthday was one he’s unlikely to forget, as the paceman inspired England’s cricketers to victory in the second One Day International against Australia in Cardiff.
Broad took four Australian wickets for the loss of 44 runs, as England won by four wickets at the Swalec Stadium to take a 2-0 lead in the five match series and in the process, Broad became the youngest England bowler to take 100 ODI wickets.
The Nottinghamshire all-rounder ripped the heart out of the Australian middle order by removing skipper Ricky Ponting, vice-captain Michael Clarke and opener Tim Paine after Ponting had won the toss and chosen to bat.
Broad and the rest of the England attack restricted the tourists to a distinctly average score of 239-7 from their 50 overs, which proved a comfortable target for the England batsmen to chase down.
Skipper Andrew Strauss and man-of-the-moment Eoin Morgan both scored half centuries for the hosts, who eased home for the loss of six wickets with almost five overs to spare, but it was a delighted Broad who took the honours.
“That was a good way to celebrate my birthday," he said. "We’ve performed really well in the first couple of games in the series and now we need to carry it on.
'We've started the series fantastically well' – Stuart Broad
"We've started the series fantastically well but we know how important it is that we stand up again at Old Trafford on Sunday.
"We just adapted to the wicket really - it was a bit more bouncy than we thought it would be. A few cross-seamers skidded on a bit more than the batsmen expected to. That's what we've talked about - communicating all the time and trying to adapt to the conditions that are thrown at us."
After being rested for the mini-series of two Test matches against Bangladesh to undergo an intensive strengthening programme, Broad was delighted to be back with a bang in this ODI series.
"I enjoyed the rest," he said. "It was pretty hard work in the gym making sure I was in good physical shape for the rest of the summer.
"But I'm delighted to be back playing and it's a fantastic changing room to be in at the moment. You've got fantastic bowlers like Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson who are feeding information all the time. It's important that the younger bowlers just keep learning."
Find out how much Broad and Freddie Flintoff really know about each other in our Team Mate Challenge
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