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Melbourne: The stand-out performer on either side, Watson added four wickets to his rollicking half-century and was named Man of the Match, but still ended up on the losing side as England squeezed home from the final ball.
The first – a beer, and secondly, a proud boast of how England (barring one notable exception in Perth) has consistently found a way to get over the line against Australia this summer.
It was again evidenced in the city of churches as debutant Chris Woakes struck the winning run on the final ball of the match.
While shattered to lose such a tight match, Australia must draw a number of positives from their performance in Adelaide.
Watson has grown in such stature he must be considered as Australia's most important cricketer. He plays all three forms of the game, and not only that, but very well indeed.
Watson's power was on display during a stunning 59 runs off 31 balls before stepping up with the ball, taking 4-15 to almost get Australia home.
Watson's partnership with David Warner at the top of the order will again be central if Australia is to come up trumps on Friday night.
Warner was kept on a pretty tight rein by England, making 30, but from 28 balls, not bad for most batsman, but rather sedate considering the weight of expectation surrounding the pocket rocket every time he comes to the crease.
The New South Welshman tends to save his best for the MCG and most will never forget the stunning 89 off 43 balls on debut against South Africa in January 2009.
New captain Cameron White, David Hussey and Aaron Finch represent an All-Victorian middle-order who will have their sights set on firing in front of their home crowd.
The man next likely, Tim Paine, is champing at the bit for a hit having missed out on one in Adelaide, while Mitch Johnson, Steve O'Keefe and Brett Lee mean Australia can bat down to number 10.
With the ball, Australia can't bank on Watson’s heroics again, meaning Lee and fellow pace machine Shaun Tait will need to make early inroads against a quality English top-order headlined by Ian Bell.
Tait was unlucky in Adelaide, having Bell dropped first-ball before the England batsman capitalised with a dashing 27 from 17 balls.
Both Lee and Tait impressed with their pace, but struggled for control, something they cannot afford in Melbourne.
As he is in every game, Johnson represents a true wildcard and after Watson proved the most economical of the Australian bowlers in Adelaide.
He's certainly got the measure of England captain Paul Collingwood, whose summer didn't get a lot better with the change to coloured clothing.
One man who certainly impressed in Adelaide was nuggetty left-hander Eoin Morgan.
The Irishman has been hungry for a chance having watched all five Ashes Tests and was sublime at times in his 43 off 33 balls.
With Collingwood's continued struggles, Morgan represents the backbone of England’s middle-order.
But Australia did expose fallibility in the English line-up with Luke Wright and Mark Yardy both missing out, while Graeme Swann was nowhere near as effective in Adelaide in the shorter form of the game as in the Ashes series.
If Australia can again blunt his impact, then more of the load will fall on the young shoulders of Woakes, who does look a player of the future, fiery customer Ajmal Shazhad and Tim Bresnan.
Teams from
Australia Cameron White (captain), Tim Paine (vice-capt & wk), Aaron Finch, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Stephen O’Keefe, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, David Warner, Shane Watson
England Paul Collingwood (captain), Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Steven Davies (wkt), Steve Finn, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy
Stats and trivia
Match facts
Friday January 14, 2010 (day/night)
Start time 19:05 local (08:35 GMT)
