A scintillating century from Jos Buttler brought England a 16-run win and a one-day international series victory against Australia in Sydney on Sunday.

The hosts, set 303 to win by England after winning the toss and choosing to bowl, were always struggling in their chase and eventually managed only 286 for six.

The result gave England an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match ODI series, a remarkable turnaround after Australia had trounced them 4-0 in the Ashes Tests.

England ODI captain Eoin Morgan said Buttler had engineered of the best wins he'd been part of.

"Jos was probably the difference between the sides," he said. "On a two-paced wicket he paced it to perfection, played the anchor until about five or six overs out.

"This is one of the best wins from this group."

Australia's hopes largely rested with Steve Smith (45) and Mitchell Marsh (55), but both were dismissed at a crucial stage of the chase, with Smith falling to a contentious low-down catch by Buttler off the bowling of Mark Wood (2-46).

Marcus Stoinis made a late attempt to lift Australia with a punishing 56, but England managed to hold on despite losing pacemen Liam Plunkett to a leg injury early in the Australian innings.

Australian captain Smith said the game was lost in the last few overs of the England innings.

"I thought the way we bowled in the first 45 overs was good, but Jos played exceptionally well, Woakesy too, but we bowled poorly at the end, can't do that to a guy like Jos," he said.

"We were chasing probably 30 too many... batted well but not enough to get over the line."

Buttler, 27, was the only batsman from either team really to get to grips with a slightly slow pitch. His late surge enabled England to reach a total which had seemed out of their reach until the final few overs.

SCORES IN BRIEF

ENGLAND: 302 for 6 in 50 overs (Roy 19, Bairstow 39, Root 27, Morgan 41, Buttler 100 not out, Woakes 53 not out; Hazlewood 2-58)

AUSTRALIA: 286 for 6 in 50 overs (Finch 62, Smith 45, Marsh 55, Stoinis 56, Paine 31 not out; Wood 2-46, Woakes 2-57, Rashid 2-51

Result: England won by 16 runs and led 5-match series 3-0.

Player-of-the-match: Jos Buttler