Deccan Chronicle

Aussies cruise to seven-wicket win

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Melbourne, Feb. 10: Australia cruised to a seven-wicket victory over England with more than five overs to spare to remain unbeaten after three games in the triangular Twenty20 series in Melbourne on Saturday.

The Australian­s restricted England to 137 for seven off their 20 overs with paceman Kane Richardson taking three wickets and then the home team knocked up the runs off just 14.3 overs.

A match-winning partnershi­p of 65 between Glenn Maxwell (39) and D’Arcy Short (36 not out), plus cameos from Chris Lynn (31) and Aaron Finch (20 not out from five balls), got Australia comfortabl­y home.

The win ensured Australia will play in the tri-series final in Auckland on February 21 with preliminar­y matches now switching to New Zealand.

The game-defining sequence came when Maxwell and Short accelerate­d the score from 65 for two at the end of the ninth over to 104 for two after the 11th, 39 runs flowing over just two overs.

“Our players have been in tremendous form coming off the Big Bash League and they are playing with freedom and they’re playing fearless,” Australia skipper David Warner said.

“The bowlers executed their game beautifull­y and the way the batters finished it off absolutely clinical.”

But Warner’s form is again in the spotlight after his relentless playing schedule. This time he lasted just four balls, nicking a David Willey outswinger on two.

Warner is the only member of the Test side to have played for Australia in every format this summer and has struggled for form in the ODIs and T20s.

He is expected to travel with the T20 side to New Zealand before heading straight to South Africa for the first of four Tests.

It was a second drubbing for England after going down by five wickets to Australia in Hobart on Wednesday.

“It was another poor performanc­e for us,” stand-in was captain Jos Buttler said.

“We didn’t quite soak up the pressure early on with the bat losing early wickets to back it up for the end and none of us kicked on.

“Again the power Australia proved much.”

Buttler was deputising for injured skipper Eoin Morgan, who missed the match after straining his right groin during training on Friday. — AFP of too

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