England v Australia, 1st T20I, Southampton – England win thriller after Australia capitulate in the death overs

The Cricket match that transpired today at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton was bizarre, to say the least. Both England and Australia seemed to have commenced their innings with nitro boosts, both teams seemed to run out of fuel by the end.

The only difference between the two teams was probably that Dawid Malan helped England exert a final burst of speed (read: runs) towards the end of their innings, in the form of a 22-run 18^th over that made all the difference at the end, as the hosts succeeded in defending their second-lowest set target on home soil.

Opening with Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, and with the pitch offering next to nothing to the bowlers, England expectedly got off to an absolute flyer. The ploy of employing left-arm spinner Ashton Agar in the second over backfired badly for Australia, as his flat, almost nothing deliveries were treated like range-hitting practice by Buttler.

He was replaced by newly appointed Australia vice-captain Pat Cummins, who got hit to the fence by Buttler upon bowling length. Cummins came back strongly at the end of the over, dismissing Bairstow courtesy another cross-seamed length ball which bounced a little more this time and took the outside edge, and some very intelligent captaincy from Finch, who stationed Mitchell Starc almost at short third man to take the catch.

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A couple of good overs on either side of the end of the powerplay arrested the momentum to an extent, as Dawid Malan, who was offered a freebie on his pads the first ball from Kane Richardson in his first over, took time to settle in. The two tight overs reaped a big reward for Australia, as Buttler slapped the penultimate ball of the 8^th over, a half-tracker from Agar straight down the throat of Cummins at deep midwicket.

That brought Tom Banton to the crease, who promptly reverse swept his second ball from Adam Zampa for four over backward point. Zampa responded brilliantly, with four dot balls and a single, and in the next over, Ashton Agar broke through by floating one up and forcing Banton into a false shot. The ball took a leading edge and ballooned high up, and the Australian skipper took a great catch, running backward and stretching his hamstrings to complete the job.

Eoin Morgan, who has been susceptible to short-pitched deliveries from Starc in the past, almost fell in the same manner right after getting off the mark with a boundary. He managed a top-edge to a bumper close to his body, which, thankfully, fell in no man’s land.

Given that two left-handers were at the crease, Glenn Maxwell’s off-breaks were implemented by Finch, and the move paid off. Morgan, trying to hit the Victorian over long-on against the spin, got a leading edge that flew miles up in the air, and Steve Smith, running in from long-on, took a decent catch, much to the delight of Maxwell.

Malan finally injected some momentum for England in the 13^th over, slog-sweeping and pulling Zampa for a six and a four through mid-wicket in the first and last deliveries. Maxwell struck again next over, removing another left-hander, the back-in-form Moeen Ali, caught at short third man off a top-edge as Moeen tried an audacious reverse sweep with the spin.

Running out of partners to bat with, Malan knew he had to stay in the middle till the end. The boundaries completely dried up, courtesy some very tight lines from the Australian spinners, and some excellent ground fielding.

Malan eventually got to his fifty with three overs left. Finch decided to take a gamble by tossing the ball to Zampa, in the hope of taking the crucial wicket of Malan. Malan took full toll of the gamble, tonking two majestic sixes as 22 runs came off the 18^th, which made a major difference to the outcome subsequently.

Dawid Malan sweeping on his way to a patient 66

Unfortunately, Malan failed to bat through. Trying to clear the extra cover boundary next over, he found the palms of a running Steve Smith, who did well to cover the adequate ground once again and keep his balance. England finished with 162, with Chris Jordan finding the mid-wicket boundary off the last ball.

Chasing 163, Australia got off to a good start as well, openers David Warner and Aaron Finch scoring 55 boundary-studded runs in the powerplay, the exact same score as England in the first innings. The run-rate was well and truly under control after the powerplay due to some electrifying running between the wickets by the Australian opening pair. Surprisingly, it took 8 overs for the first six of the innings to be hit, an enormous hit by Finch over long-on off Rashid.

With 72 required off 60 with both the openers well-set at the crease, the game seemed to have slipped away from the hosts’ grasp. It did not help them that their two quickest bowlers strayed down the leg side on more than one occasion upon being brought back during the middle-overs in a desperate search of a wicket.

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England finally broke through in the 11^th over, after Finch mistimed a lofted drive off Jofra Archer, and Chris Jordan, stationed at mid-off, leaped up and clutched onto the chance at the edge of the circle. Steven Smith walked into the middle and smashed his first ball in International Cricket in 6 months to the mid-wicket boundary.

Smith added a quickfire 18 before Rashid claimed his wicket in his final over. Trying to sweep the leg-spinner from well outside off-stump, Smith ended up picking out Bairstow at deep mid-wicket. Rashid struck again in the final ball of his spell, as Maxwell fell rather tamely in his first International outing in a year, hitting the Yorkshireman straight to Eoin Morgan at short cover.

England were right back in the game next over. Archer produced a pinpoint yorker at express pace to clip Warner’s leg stump. He gave only 6 runs away in the remaining 5 deliveries as Australia were left with 30 to get off the final 4 overs with two new batsmen at the crease.

Two dot balls later, more jitters were to follow in the Australian camp as Mark Wood knocked over Alex Carey’s stumps with a delivery that zipped off from a good length. Marcus Stoinis and new batsman Ashton Agar proceeded to keep the score ticking with ones and twos, as the run-rate suddenly started to mount. Much like at the back end of the England innings, the boundaries dried up for Australia as well.

Australia ended up requiring 15 off the final over with Stoinis on strike to Curran. The first three balls were all in the slot; Stoinis swung blindly at two of them and connected at one, sending the white projectile into the stands. With 9 more runs needed, Stoinis was unable to get adequate bat on the next 3, collecting a brace in each of them, as England completed an astonishing, enthralling victory after being down and out for the better part of the game.

Brief scores:

England 1^st Innings 162/7 (20 Overs)

Malan 66, Buttler 44, Richardson 2/13

Australia 2^nd Innings 160/6 (20 Overs)

Warner 58, Finch 46, Rashid 2/29

England won by 2 runs

Player of The Match: Dawid Malan