Strauss may consider changes for the final match in the series

England captain Andrew Strauss blamed a "return to old habits" for his side's 78-run defeat against Australia in the fourth one-day international.

The Aussies batted first and hit 290-5 before England were all out for 212.

Strauss said: "It was not so good today. I thought we could chase 290 but we lost too many wickets too early.

"It was a disappointing day, but you have to put it in the context of the series. We have had a lot of good days so far and we want to finish well."

The series had been won at Old Trafford on Sunday, rendering Wednesday's match at The Oval a dead rubber.

With a 5-0 rout now out of reach England will mull over freshening up the side with Ian Bell, Ajmal Shahzad and Ryan Sidebottom all on hand if required for Saturday's final match at Lord's.

Strauss did not rule out the possibility of changes being made.

606: DEBATE It seems the team may have taken Australia a bit lightly today by the performance, which doesn't take anything away from how well the Aussies have played today ArmchairPro

"I don't know, we'll see. We certainly want to finish the series 4-1 instead of 3-2 and finish well," he added. "As for personnel we'll have to see how the players are tomorrow."

Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, back in form after a lean patch with an excellent 92, was pleased to chalk up a victory after seeing his team outplayed in the opening three games.

He said: "We played a lot better today. Our batting was back to the level it needs to be and we controlled the game right through the day.

"When you are in the top three you have to be a consistent run scorer and I haven't been that so far.

"I was just glad to be back in the runs, and it was a good sign today of the character in the team that we could bounce back when things had been pretty tough."

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