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WHEN the 43rd over of England's run chase got going under the bright lights at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday, only one result appeared possible, never mind likely, in the first final of the Carlton and United Series. England needed 35 from 47 balls, had six wickets in hand and two experienced cricketers, Nasser Hussain and Vince Wells, with a partnership of 67, were in reasonable control. The hard yards had been done, the cat was in the bag. Or so it seemed.

Then, in seven balls of unbelievably crass cricket, three batsmen surrendered their wickets without adding a run. With them went the game as Australia's surge of adrenalin, inspired by Shane Warne's irresistible captaincy and bowling and finished by Glenn McGrath's clinical assassinations, stole the match by 10 runs.

For as long as he breathes the game of cricket, Hussain will reflect in horror on the moment he jumped out of his crease and tried to flay Warne over extra cover. Head up and footwork all over the place, he missed by a mile and was stumped.

Next ball the new batsman, Adam Hollioake, went well forward on one knee to sweep and when Warne screamed his appeal the 32,000 crowd screamed with him. This chorus of desperate Australians was too much for umpire Steve Davis, who gave Hollioake out. It was a poor decision to rank alongside Hollioake's indiscreet first-ball stroke. Five balls on and Wells, who had again batted with character, drove at Shane Lee's slower ball high and hard to the sightscreen, only to watch in shock as Brendon Julian ran 30 yards from deep long-off to snare a stupendous catch.

For two overs Mark Ealham tried to restore sanity but, with 29 needed from five overs, McGrath returned and found Ealham's outside edge with a perfect leg-cutter before up-rooting Darren Gough's off-stump with a devastating yorker two balls later. That was it, bar some feisty hitting from Robert Croft, who needed more of the strike if he was to be a hero but kept having it denied by Alan Mullally, whose castle was flattened in the last over of the night by Australia's incomparable strike bowler.

Not that things had started so glamorously for McGrath. Alec Stewart took four consecutive boundaries, all hook and pull shots, from his third over and batsman and bowler ended it, after the last ball had flown over the wicketkeeper's head off a top edge, in the sort of heated conversation that causes match referees to raise eyebrows.

Four balls later Stewart on-drove an innocuous ball from Adam Dale low into the hands of Mark Waugh at short midwicket. He stood his ground, with boiled blood getting the better of him, hoping the catch had not carried. But it clearly had and the England captain walked off the field to derision from the crowd.

Nick Knight got a start, as he has often done in the series, but inexplicably he hit across the line at the admirable Dale and dropped his head in frustration.

Graeme Hick cruised to 42 in commanding style before Hussain's 'yes-no-sorry' call had him diving back to the crease at the non-striker's end but unable to beat Ricky Ponting's exhilarating pick-up and throw from backward point.

It was all manic, unnecessary stuff and England will not win the World Cup if they cannot keep cool during such an achievable run chase. The simple things are not being done well enough, like staying in to see the thing through and running sensibly between the wickets. In Adelaide, England needed 78 from 15 overs with eight wickets in hand to beat Australia and made a Horlicks of it. Yesterday they lost five wickets for six runs when they were chasing no more than five an over.

For all this night-time drama, the man of the match was neither McGrath nor Warne but Michael Bevan, whose part had been played in daylight, hours earlier.

Warne had chosen to bat first on another grassless Sydney pitch but one which retained some moisture after the rain of the previous two days, which made it awkward for batsmen to force the pace.

Gough was on song, making the new ball spit from a good length, but Mullally was unusually lethargic and on the receiving end of a flamboyant hammering from Adam Gilchrist. This time, though, Gilchrist betrayed his over-confidence with one expansive stroke too many - he should have been on his way in the opening minutes of the day but Hollioake dropped a sitter at square leg off a mis-hook - and other Australian batsmen followed suit by getting starts but making silly mistakes against England's persevering medium-pacers.

Wells recorded his best bowling figures in international cricket by pitching the ball up and aiming it pretty straight. Everyone else chipped in to leave the Australians precarious on 139 for five. Bevan is in his element in this sort of situation and a supreme display of clean hitting, startling improvisation and lightning speed between the wickets took Australia beyond par and into the zone that England appear unable to reach.

The second final is in Melbourne tomorrow but the excellent Bevan will be missing after he dislocated and fractured a finger diving to deny Stewart another boundary.

Will the time be enough for England to rediscover their self-esteem? Yesterday they took a series of destabilising blows and must wonder if Australia have the wood on them.

Australia, of course, are cock-a-hoop and feel that the force is with them. They will take some stopping.