Australia Vs England T20 series, First Match
Played at Ageas Bowl, Southampton on September 4
England 162/7 in 20 overs (DJ Malan 66, JC Buttler44, CJ Jordan 14*, KJ Richardson 2/13, GJ Maxwell 2/14, AC Agar 2/32) beat Australia 160/6 in 20 Overs (D A Warner 58, A J Flinch 46, MP Stoinis 23*, AU Rashid 2/29, JC Archer 2/33) by 2 runs.
Player Of The Match: DJ Malan
A dramatic turn around by England causing Austrlian batting collapse earned England 2 runs win in a thrilling T20 encounter.England forged ahead 1-0 in the three matches T20 series.
Two remaining matches will be played at the same venue on 6th and 9th September.
Horses for the courses combined with good intelligent bowling, great fielding and smart leadership by Flinch restricted England put into bat to 162/7 in allotted overs. With a very powerful batting especially cracking openers in David Warner and Aaron Flinch Australia appeared cruising for a cakewalk. But dramatic collapse and England keeping their cool at right moment earned them a dramatic 2 runs win as Australia could manage reaching 160/6 by the end of the match. It was a thrilling contest where the lack of competitive cricket over a long time and sort of irresponsible batting by Australian top order cost them the match. England went 1-0 up in the three matches T20 series.
Earlier winning the toss and putting England in to bat Australia bowled and fielded exceedingly well. Buttler blasted Aston Agar in his first over and the opener raced to 43 by the fourth over when Cummins exploiting the sluggish surface followed Bairstow with a cleverly concealed slower delivery. Smart Flinch bringing back Agar reaped rich harvest as Agar removed Banton and Buttler in quick succession. Spurred by the success of Agar, Flinch introduced his part time spinner Maxwell. He also delivered removing the cream of English middle order. Morgan and Moeen were removed before they could do any damage. Only Malan kept ploughing in the sand. His 43 balls 66 kept England in the hunt as English innings reached 162/7. Many through it to be 30 runs short at mid way of the match.
Contrary to Australian strategy England bowled their fast bowlers Archer and Wood first. Aussie flamboyant openers Warner and Flinch raced to 98 by the 11th over when Archer returning n his second spell got rid of Flinch. Warner and Smith together have won many matches for Australia from such situation. They looked ok till 124 when Smith threw away his wicket at wrong time. Maxwell got out in a foolish manner. Australia collapsed dramatically losing 4 wickets for 9 runs as Warner was also cleaned up Archer. The best of Stoinis could only take Australia to160/6 still 2 runs short. One among Flinch, Warner and Smith should have taken Australia home as for a new batsman playing under pressure can not win matches in crunch situation. A very good win for England. They will have opportunity now for reviewing match strategy for the remaining two matches.
BDST: 1220 HRS, SEP 05, 2020
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