ENGLAND NICK VICTORY SPOILS
Aussies crumble to defeat after mighty comeback
England dragged back an apparently hopeless position in Southampton last night to condemn australia to defeat in the first game of their white-ball coronavirus tour.
at 98 without loss in the 11th over chasing a modest 163 for victory, the australians — the no 1 side in the world T20 rankings — were set to make a mockery of the suggestion that they would be rusty after nearly six months without competitive cricket.
But Jofra archer removed aaron Finch for 46, caught by his good friend Chris Jordan at mid-off, and from 124 for one australia contrived to lose four wickets for nine runs in 14 balls.
adil Rashid persuaded Steve Smith to slog to deep midwicket for 18, then picked up glenn Maxwell for a single with the final ball of his four-over allocation, thanks to a lame chip to short extra cover.
Even then, with david Warner moving to a 37-ball half-century, australia appeared to have plenty in the tank.
But archer bowled Warner for 58 with a full-length delivery on leg stump, and it was 133 for five when Mark Wood - who had registered 95mph in his first spell for England in two months — knocked back the left-hander alex Carey’s middle stump from round the wicket.
From nowhere, England were back in it, having spent much of the game looking like they were the side trying to shake off the cobwebs.
Tom Curran conceded just seven off the 18th over, before Jordan bowled a superlative 19th, going for just four singles and running out ashton agar from his final delivery.
That left australia needing 15 off the last over, with Marcus Stoinis — preferred here to fellow all-rounder Mitchell Marsh — on strike. He swung and missed at Curran’s first ball, then launched his second over extra cover for six: nine needed off four.
another dot followed, before Stoinis got away with a mistimed heave that somehow landed between four fielders at short midwicket and brought him two runs. Two more came from the fifth ball, leaving australia needing five to win off the last — or four for a dreaded super over.
But Curran held his nerve magnificently, limiting Stoinis to another two, and leaving australia to wonder how on earth they had blown it.
Earlier, on an evening when England v australia entered the unprecedented territory of behind-closed-doors cricket, the tourists’ unheralded slow-bowling trio of Maxwell, agar and adam Zampa — off-spinner, left-armer and leggie — slowed England’s progress after Jos Buttler had threatened one of his specials.
at 64 for one in the eighth over, with Buttler in beautiful nick at the venue where he recently made a Test-best 152 against Pakistan, England were on course for a daunting total after being invited to bat in the first of three T20 internationals here in five days.
But Buttler pulled agar to deep midwicket to depart for 44 off 29 balls, before England lost their way. numbers four to seven — Tom Banton, Eoin Morgan, Moeen ali and Curran — managed 21 runs between them in 29 balls, with just two fours.
dawid Malan regained some of the momentum with an increasingly fluent innings of 66 off 43 balls — his eighth score of 50 or more in 14 T20 international knocks.
But when he flat-batted Kane Richardson to Smith at long-off, England were 147 for seven with only 11 deliveries to go. They had to settle for a middling 162.
It didn’t look enough, especially when Finch and Warner flew out of the blocks, seemingly vindicating coach Justin langer’s claim that they are the best white-ball opening pair in world cricket.
and for all the pace of Wood, whose first two deliveries hurried david Warner into miscues that produced six fortunate runs, England again went wicketless in the powerplay.
archer’s first two overs cost 20, and the thought occurred — not for the first time — that the selectors’ lack of faith in david Willey’s death bowling is costing them a wicket-taking option up front.
as England’s out-cricket grew scrappy, australia were a couple of good overs away from rubbing their noses in a heavy defeat — especially after Finch smashed Rashid for 16 in three balls, and Smith collected eight from his first two deliveries in this country after his ashes runfest in 2019.
But Morgan has bred a team that doesn’t give up, and slowly England clawed their way back into contention. Tomorrow’s second game here is now set up beautifully.
On a more sombre note, England’s players wore black armbands for david Capel, the former northamptonshire all-rounder who died this week at the age of 57 — and would have loved the hurlyburly of last night’s finish.