Bridgetown (Barbados): Openers David Warner and Travis Head starred with the bat to set a solid platform before Adam Zampa’s superb spell as Australia beat defending champions England by 36 runs in a Group B match of the T20 World Cup late on Saturday.
Australia set a huge target of 201/7 in 20 overs, becoming the first team in the tournament to breach the 200-run mark while England managed to score 165/6 in response to a huge total.
Australia got off to a strong start, while England seemed unsteady in the field. Warner (39 off 16) was the first to be dismissed when he was bowled by Moeen Ali in the fifth over. Fellow opener Head scored 34 off 18 balls and was removed in the next over by Jofra Archer. The duo posted the biggest Powerplay score of the tournament with 74/2.
Seeing the match slipping away, Jos Buttler adjusted the bowling lineup, which paid off. In the 14th over, Liam Livingstone dismissed Mitchell Marsh for 35. Just three balls later, Adil Rashid took out Glenn Maxwell for 28.
Chris Jordan secured his first gate when he enticed Tim David to loft the ball high, where Livingstone caught it near the boundary.
England’s challenge in the final over intensified due to a penalty for a slow over rate, forcing them to bring in an additional fielder. Despite this, Jordan achieved his 100th T20 international wicket by dismissing Marcus Stoinis for 30, reports ICC.
On the penultimate ball of the innings, he removed Pat Cummins, running him out for a duck as Matthew Wade looked to get on strike and Australia posted a massive total on board.
Chasing 202, Phil Salt and Buttler made a fine start to the innings, with the boundaries flowing smoothly.
Head had a great chance to remove Salt at the boundary but instead added six runs to his total, losing his footing and touching the rope as his hands batted the ball back towards the middle.
Then Adam Zampa made the breakthrough with his very first ball, he clean bowled Salt (37 off 23) before a Buttler’s(42 off 28) reverse-sweep was caught at point, leaving England on 92-2 on the halfway mark. Then, Stoinis removed Will Jacks who hit the ball into the hands of Mitchell Starc, who dived forward to cling on brilliantly.
Moeen Ali played a delightful cameo in the closing stages, hitting three sixes in Maxwell’s over. However, he couldn’t find support from the other end. Jonny Bairstow scored just 7 off 13 balls before being caught by Maxwell off Josh Hazelwood’s bowling, causing England to fall further behind the required run rate.
Soon after, Moeen was out for 25, trying to increase the scoring against Cummins but only managing to hit it to Warner at the boundary. Livingstone scored 15 before being caught by Starc at long-off from another Cummins delivery, leaving Jordan and Harry Brook to close out the innings.
Brief scores: Australia 201/7 in 20 overs (David Warner 39, Mitchell Marsh 35; Chris Jordan 2-44) beat England 165/6 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 42, Philip Salt 37; Pat Cummins 2-23, Adam Zampa 2-28) by 36 runs.
–IANS