England v Australia, 2nd T20I, Southampton – Hosts wrap series up 2-0, one win away from being ranked number 1 T20I team

It got a little tense towards the end, but England managed to avoid any further hiccups and chased down a target of 158 with 7 balls to spare, thanks to a responsible half-century from Jos Buttler, stitching a partnership of 87 with Dawid Malan in the process, and an effective cameo from Moeen Ali towards […]
 
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England v Australia, 2nd T20I, Southampton – Hosts wrap series up 2-0, one win away from being ranked number 1 T20I team

It got a little tense towards the end, but England managed to avoid any further hiccups and chased down a target of 158 with 7 balls to spare, thanks to a responsible half-century from Jos Buttler, stitching a partnership of 87 with Dawid Malan in the process, and an effective cameo from Moeen Ali towards the end.

England struck twice in the opening overs, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood nicking out David Warner for his first duck in T20I Cricket and a promoted Alex Carey. While Warner got an absolute peach from Archer second ball, one that leapt up after pitching, taking the faintest of deflection on the way, Carey did nothing to make the most of the opportunity to bat at the top-order, as he went for an expansive drive running down the pitch and gifting Buttler his second dismissal of the day.

Three overs later, Eoin Morgan produced some brilliance in the field to run Steven Smith out with a diving underarm throw after Smith, who was beginning to look threatening, having hit 10 off the over already, tried to steal a single to mid-on.

Marcus Stoinis then joined Finch, and the pair concentrated on building a foundation to the innings. Finch, who got off to a good start, began to dig in, while Stoinis found the boundary in consecutive deliveries after taking two sighters.

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Chris Jordan was greeted to the attack with a powerful blow from Stoinis over the mid-wicket boundary. Having conceded 11 off the over, he was brought back four over later. Two poor short deliveries from him were dispatched to the fence by Finch before the Sussex speedster came back strongly, hitting a good length and managing the ball to seam back in with good bounce. Finch, unable to control in, played on and lost his off-stump.

England v Australia, 2nd T20I, Southampton – Hosts wrap series up 2-0, one win away from being ranked number 1 T20I team

Stoinis followed next over, lamely guiding a leg-break from Adil Rashid to first slip, where Dawid Malan took a sharp catch. It was down to the lower middle-order to bat the 20 overs in order to get Australia to a respectable total. Glenn Maxwell and Ashton Agar hung around till the penultimate over, with Maxwell starting to end the innings in a flourish having maintained a sedate approach since his arrival to the crease. Unfortunately, the flourish was very short-lived; Maxwell, having got to 26 off 18, tried to hack Jordan over cover but only managed to generate a big nick, and Buttler gobbled up his third dismissal.

An 18-run last over off Jofra Archer, which included several runs of wide deliveries, a streaky boundary to third man and a six over mid-off from Australian vice-captain Pat Cummins, help Australia go past the 150 mark. Australia finished with 157, having scored 40 of them in the last three overs.

Jonny Bairstow hit Starc for back-to-back boundaries in the third over of the chase before falling later in the same over in rather unconventional fashion. The Yorkshireman was late on the pull to a vicious short delivery from Starc as the ball zipped through to the keeper. The momentum in Bairstow’s follow-through to the shot resulted his bat clipping the stumps, resulting in him becoming the first England batsman to be dismissed hit wicket in T20I Cricket.

England v Australia, 2nd T20I, Southampton – Hosts wrap series up 2-0, one win away from being ranked number 1 T20I team

Jonny Bairstow became the first England batsman to be dismissed hit wicket in T20Is

Buttler was joined by Malan, who, in typical Malan fashion, looked to play himself in, happy to take up the supporting role to Buttler. The difference between the England and Australian innings was evident in this stage; Buttler and Malan mixed caution with aggression and managed to build a foundation to the chase, which was important for England given their quality of batting depth and the kind of form the middle-order batsmen have been in.

Malan saw off the quicks and dug into the spin bowling from Maxwell and Zampa, dispatching both of them to the fence twice each close to the halfway stage of the innings. Jos Buttler, too, slowly started to cut loose, as the duo inched closer to both of their 50s.

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Unfortunately, Dawid Malan missed out on his by 8 runs, as he looked to clear the long mid-wicket boundary off left-arm spinner Ashton Agar but could only hit it as far as Stoinis’ palms in the deep. Buttler got to his half-century next ball with a mere push to cover, which rolled to the ropes, followed by a dismissive reverse sweep for a similar outcome.

The dismissals of Banton and Morgan in successive overs, with the run rate hovering just over 6 an over, started to bring a hint of déjà vu. A tight 18th over from Agar meant that England needed 18 off the last two overs, and there was still life to the game. However, Aaron Finch’s tactic to give Adam Zampa the penultimate over backfired yet again, and this time the consequences were much more severe. Moeen Ali skipped down the pitch and elegantly lofted a flighted 2nd delivery over the long-off boundary, followed by an inside out over cover for four. A single later, the series was England’s. With 6 required for victory, Jos Buttler fitting ended the game with a monstrous hit that flew over the sightscreen onto the second tier, and England claimed a 2-0 series win with a game to spare.

Brief scores:

Australia 1st Innings 157/7 (20 Overs)

Finch 40, Stoinis 35, Jordan 2/40

England 2nd Innings 158/4 (18.5 Overs)

Buttler 77*, Malan 42, Agar 2/27

England won by 6 wickets with 7 balls to spare

Player of The Match: Jos Buttler