IT was fitting that a young England star with flair and a big future shone on a landmark day for the Rose Bowl.

Like the Rose Bowl, Eoin Morgan will be a fixture on the international scene for a long time to come and it was his spectacular century that provided the backbone and the impetus for the four-wicket win against Australia last night.

Still only 23, the Irishman illuminated the arena with strokes both orthodox and improvised that shimmered like emeralds under the Rose Bowl’s powerful floodlights.

An enchanted 18,000-plus crowd were treated to an ODI masterclass from a burgeoning talent who is no stranger to Rose Bowl success.

Two years after winning the Twenty20 Cup at the Rose Bowl with Middlesex, left-hander Morgan produced a career-defining innings.

His unbeaten 103 - from just 85 balls and including 16 fours - may not be a career-best (he scored 110 not out in Bangladesh two months ago) but considering the opposition it is one of his most impressive innings to date.

It helped provide a terrific advert for 50-over cricket, an increasingly maligned form of the game in the Twenty20 era, on an excellent one-day wicket.

And it ensured that England chased down their 268-run target with 24 balls to spare - as convincing a win as it gets against the all-conquering Aussies.

After restricting the tourists to 267 for 7, England were pegged back early on in their chase when captain Andrew Strauss got a nick against Ryan Harris.

Craig Kieswetter, playing in his first ODI on English soil, put on 59 from 64 balls with Kevin Pietersen, who was given a warm reception on his return to the Rose Bowl.

There is no love lost between Pietersen and his former Hampshire teammate Watson, who was delighted to have England’s number three caught by a diving Ponting at short third man.

Kieswetter (38), having hit the first six of the match, was bowled by Australia’s teenage debutant Josh Hazlewood shortly afterwards and England were 97 for 4 when Paul Collingwood became Watson’s second victim.

After coming down the wicket to the Australia all-rounder, who played for Hampshire from 2004-05, Collingwood succeeded only in chipping the ball to mid off.

No matter.

Morgan found an able partner in Luke Wright with whom he put on 95 in less than 15 overs.

Harris (3 for 42) was the pick of the Australian attack, two years after nearly ending his international career before it began on his last trip to the Rose Bowl.

In April 2008, British passport holder Harris dramatically pulled out of his County Championship debut against Hampshire, ending his brief career as a non-overseas player with Sussex after realising it would scupper his ambition of playing for Australia.

He added the wickets of Wright and Bresnan last night but it was too late to turn the tide.

Wright was lbw for a 48-ball 36 but by the time Bresnan (27) was bowled by an excellent yorker, the Yorkshireman had helped Morgan add 71 match-winning runs from 65 balls.

Pietersen and Watson were not the only former Hampshire players back at the Rose Bowl.

Michael Clarke registered his highest ODI score for more than a year after Australia won the toss.

Six years ago, the highlights of Clarke’s disappointing season with Hampshire were three successive County Championship centuries that equalled a Gordon Greenidge record – but they were all scored away from the Rose Bowl.

At one stage yesterday afternoon, Clarke looked like he might score his first ton at West End. But he did not score as quickly as Watson and eventually had to settle for an unbeaten 87, from 97 balls.

Opener Watson set the tone for Australia’s blistering start, striking 32 from 26 deliveries against England’s new-ball pair, Jimmy Anderson and Bresnan.

But immediately after he and Tim Paine brought up the 50 partnership, Watson top edged an attempted pull to hand a tumbling Stuart Broad a return catch.

Then Wright struck twice in his first three overs, beginning with a wicket maiden when Paine (26), soon after being dropped by Anderson at mid-on, chopped on.

The stage was set for Ricky Ponting, but after delighting the crowd with a brisk 23, the Australia captain helped a short delivery on to long leg, where Broad held on to another good catch.

When Cameron White (10) went cheaply, bowled via an inside edge at the beginning of a new Anderson spell, England had their tails up.

Australia were 98 for 4 but the first substantial fifth-wicket stand of the match - 70 from 77 balls between Clarke and Mike Hussey – gave them hope of setting England a testing total.

After left-hander Hussey (28) was caught at the wicket after, James Hopes carried on where Mr Cricket left off, making 34 from 38 balls in a sixth-wicket stand worth 57.

When he got a thick edge to short third man against a slower-ball bouncer from Anderson during the final powerplay, Nathan Hauritz stepped into the breach with a 17-ball 22.

It ensured that Australia made more than they needed to beat Ireland in Dublin last week – but it was not enough against England’s Dubliner.

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