Led by Travis Head’s scorching 23-ball 59, Australia cruised to a 28-run victory over England in the first T20I at the Rose Bowl. It was a day where the bowlers had enough of wickets to take back, with all 20 falling in two innings, but Sean Abbott shone out with his spell of 3 for 28.
AUSTRALIA
The Head-Short ‘Power’ Play
Powerplay: 86/1 after 6 overs.
The batters’ most fruitful stretch occurred during the Powerplay after Australia was sent in to bat. After a cautious start, yielding 11 runs in the first nine deliveries, Matthew Short unleashed, hitting Reece Topley for successive sixes.The most productive over of that era came in the fifth, when Head, who had started slowly with three runs in six balls, took on Curran and slammed three sixes and as many fours in a 30-run over as Australia cruised to 86 in the powerplay. However, the southpaw eventually fell off the final delivery of the phase.
Caught in the turn.
Middle overs: 69/4 in nine overs.
The English bowlers ensured that Australia could not resume their aggressive tactics as quickly as they would have liked after Head’s departure. Short, who had similarly gotten off to a fast start, left shortly after the field limitations were lifted, becoming the first of Liam Livingstone’s three victims during this period.
During the English fightback, Jofra Archer, Curran, and Saqib Mahmood took wickets in the death overs, while no one in the Australian lower order contributed significantly. The visitors were dismissed with three balls remaining in their innings.
Same goal, but different outcomes.
Powerplay: 46/3 from 6 overs
England attempted an offensive strategy similar to Australia’s, but could not achieve the intended outcomes. Barring the fourth over, in which Jordan Cox and Phil Salt combined to knock four boundaries off Josh Hazlewood, the Australian bowlers were mostly able to establish themselves. After dismissing Will Jacks in the second over, they almost had Cox, but Barlett missed a comeback chance. Nonetheless, his time was brief, as he and Salt were both ejected during the Powerplay.
Livingstone’s 27-ball 37 and partnership with Sam Curran gave England hope for a revival in the middle overs, resulting in an 80/4 in 9 overs. England’s bowling performance also improved during this time.
Australia cleans up the tail.
Death overs: 25/3 after 4.2 overs.
The English lower order offered little resistance. With the needed rate increasing and little wickets to play with, the lower order attempted to swing their way out of difficulty, but with limited success as Australia ensured no late twists.
Brief Scores: Australia 179 in 19.3 overs (Travis Head 59, Matthew Short 41; Liam Livingstone 3-22, Saqib Mahmood 2-21) defeated England 151 in 19.2 overs (Liam Livingstone 37; Sean Abbott 3-28, Adam Zampa 2-20) by 28 runs.
