Saturday, 20 January 2018: Joe Root is relishing the role of finisher as England turn the tables on Australia in the one-day format.

Joe Root is happy the shoe is on the other foot but says any talk that Australia are now playing catch-up in 50-over cricket is off the mark.

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England have enjoyed the transition to coloured clothes after the recent 4-0 Ashes Test series drubbing and will head to Sydney on Sunday with a handy 2-0 advantage with three games to play.

Wins in Melbourne and Brisbane on Friday came at a canter as the visitors chased down 304 and 270 with relative ease.

Root was left unbeaten on both occasions and admitted it had been satisfying to stand in the middle shaking hands as a winner.

"Yeah it's obviously nice, it's a lot nicer than the other way around," he said.

"It's naturally a great driver coming from a difficult series like that and that's the sort of thing as a batsman you pride yourself on, making sure that you're the one that gets the job done.

"It's very pleasing to be a part of that, but ultimately as a side we're playing some great cricket.

"Nobody stood out today (in Brisbane) like Jason Roy did in the first game (scoring 180), but that just shows the strength of our side."

But Root stopped short of saying Australia were now playing catch-up in the 50-over format given they have now won just one of their last 10 completed ODIs in what is the worst 10-game span in their history.

"I don't think that's the right way to put it; I think we've played really well these two games.

"I think it was a great effort from our bowling unit and we were very clinical with the bat. There were a few hairy moments but we kept our composure and made sure we got the job done."