BLISTERING BUTTLER SETS UP ENGLAND T20 WIN

JOS BUTTLER hit the fastest fifty by an England batsman in a Twenty20 international to lay the platform for a 28run win over Australia at Edgbaston yesterday. Australia, set 222 for victory, lost half their wickets inside nine overs to be 72 for five. Aaron Finch, their captain, kept them in the match with a fine innings of 84 while sharing a sixth-wicket stand of 86 with Ashton Agar. But the runrate required Finch to keep going for big hits and when he holed out off Adil Rashid, Australia were 158 for six in the 16th over. Leg-spinner Rashid, the official man-of-the-match, led England’s attack with three for 27 in his maximum four overs before paceman Chris Jordan struck twice in two balls to leave Australia on the

brink of defeat at 174 for eight. Australia were bowled out for 193 with two balls to spare. This latest reverse meant they had still to win an international match since Justin Langer became their coach after his fellow former Test batsman Darren Lehmann resigned in the fall-out from March’s ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town. Buttler, fresh from his man of the series heroics in a 5-0 one-day international sweep of Australia, including a match-winning 110 not out in a dramatic one-wicket victory in the series finale at Old Trafford on Sunday, was promoted to open in this one-off T20 clash.

guessing while they are in Ireland and England. India launched their tour with a 78-run thrashing of Ireland in the first Twenty20 international in Dublin yesterday. Kohli, one of the world’s leading batsmen, was involved in two surprises – he came in at a relatively lowly No. 6 and was promptly out for a secondball duck.But by then India were well on the way to going 1-0 up in a two-match series, with Rohit Sharma (97) and Shikhar Dhawan (74) sharing an opening stand of 160 in 16 overs. Suresh Raina was then sent in when Ireland eventually ended India’s second-highest opening T20 stand. MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya came in at the fall of the next two wickets before Kohli decided to go in with just three balls remaining. After they leave Ireland, India have three Twenty20 matches against England before they face them in both one-day international and Test series.