Hales storms it as he pencils his name into T20 Cup squad

ALEX Hales has pencilled his name into England’s T20 World Cup lineup as he starred in their tense eightrun victory over Australia in Perth.

With Jos Buttler returning to the side after a calf injury, Hales was preferred to Phil Salt as the England white-ball captain’s opening partner for the first of three T20s against their Ashes rivals.

Hales struggled early on for fluency but gradually gained his footing and underpinned England’s 208 for six with a knock of 84 off 51 balls, sharing a blistering 132-run stand in 11.2 overs with Buttler.

Their efforts went a long way to the tourists’ success as Australia slipped from 158 for three to fall short on 200 for nine, with David Warner’s 73 off 44 balls in vain at the Optus Stadium. And Buttler confirmed Hales, who has recently returned to the fold after more than three years in the international wilderness following a recreational drugs test failure, is set to open again when England return to this venue in a fortnight for their World Cup opener against Afghanistan.

“Things change quickly in sport but he’s got the first crack at it, at the minute,” said Buttler, who revealed Hales was selected because of his pedigree in Australia’s Big Bash League.

“It was a really tough call, we spent a lot of time debating it and thinking about it, and it was only really Alex’s record in Australia that got him ahead.

“He’s settled back in really well and he played fantastically well here. He’s a really destructive player, he accesses all areas of the ground and he’s intimidating to bowl at so it was great to watch at the other end.”