ENG v AUS, 1st T20I: Australia beats England by 28 runs

In the inaugural Twenty20 match, a young England team was destroyed by a more experienced Australian XI, with to a powerplay blitz from Travis Head that gave the visitors a 28-run victory.

England’s run-chase never really got underway. After opting for an offensive approach, captain and first man Phil Salt was removed for 20 off 12 by Abbott, who also removed Sam Curran (18) from the game. Josh Hazlewood, who returned from a calf ailment, scored six runs off of seven shots from Will Jacks, Salt’s opening partner. Though he was supposed to bat at three, rookie Jordan Cox managed to contribute with just 17 runs off of 12 balls. Adam Zampa clean bowled England’s second debutant, Jacob Bethell, for two off six. An Australian victory seemed certain when Hazlewood removed Liam Livingstone (37 off 27) on the opening ball of the 14th over.

Australia’s openers, Travis Head and Matthew Short, set the stage for their team’s victory after being selected to bat first. Travis Head produced another brilliant knock that had eight fours and four sixes, while Short, who came in for Jake Fraser-McGurk in the playing eleven, hit 41 off 26 balls.

Liam Livingstone’s all-around effort was in vain, while Phil Salt’s debut as captain of England did not go as expected. Livingstone won the toss and elected to bowl, but their 37 runs and three wickets were insufficient since the home team failed to produce a coherent effort.

After hitting eight boundaries and four sixes in his 23-ball 59, Travis Head was named Player of the Match. Head scored his maiden fifty in Twenty20 Internationals in Australia, and the left-handed power batter had a productive opening combination with Matthew Short, who made his first appearance back in the team since February.

Australia appeared to be on track to record a total above 200 at one stage. But in the middle overs, Livingstone applied the brakes thanks to the significant wickets of Tim David (0) and Marcus Stoinis (10).

In the last overs, Jofra Archer and Saqib skilfully combined their lengths to limit Australia to 179.

Australia’s victory in Southampton was the eighth time in the previous 11 games that a side had won by batting first. After defeating Scotland 3-0 earlier in the month, Mitchell Marsh’s team extended their winning streak with their third victory in a T20I encounter in England in ten attempts.

Australia, who leads the series 1-0, will aim to seal the deal when the two teams meet in Cardiff for the second T20I on Friday.

Phil Salt: “Everything was good apart from the result, Heady came out swinging, we dragged it back, but with 50 off 30, we were a couple of wickets too far down. Heady’s done that for a couple of years, it’s about how do we shut that down? Beth, the way he bowled and crossed the line, looked like he’d been there millions of times. Good signs. They played well, we dragged it back, we should have chased it realistically. At times we could have taken partnerships deeper. But we’ve had a good look at them now.”

Mitchell Marsh: “Exciting watching Heady and Shorty, on par for above 200. Tried our best to stuff it up. Hazlewood and Zampa, lucky to have guys like that in our team. It was a 200 wicket, when Heady got going the conditions don’t matter. Xavier has hurt his side, disappointing but hopefully not too bad. Colder here than in Scotland, hopefully warmer in Cardiff.”