The three-match T20 series between England and Australia started today at Optus Stadium, where England thrillingly beat the home team. England set a massive target for the Aussies, which they couldn’t chase down at the Optus Stadium. English batter Alex Hales received the Player of the Match award for his devastating batting display against the host.
Match Report
Aussie captain Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to bowl first in the 1st match. So, England started their batting innings with Josh Buttler and Alex Hales. The two openers brought a flying start for the visiting team. They aimed to hit from the very beginning of the match. Therefore, both batters started playing aggressively from the first over.
Josh Buttler and Alex Hales picked up 58 runs in the powerplay. Moreover, both batters picked up a half-century for each. They added a massive 132 runs on the opening wicket. However, their brilliant partnership broke in the 12th over as Nathan Alis picked up Josh Buttler. But this opener scored 68 off 31 balls before losing his wicket.
On the other side, Alex Hales kept hitting boundaries. With three sixes and twelve fours, Hales scored the highest 84 runs for England. Relying on their two openers bats, England scored 208 runs in 20 overs.
Chasing the massive target, Australia failed to get a good start like England. They lost their first wicket in the 2nd over as Cameron Green departed the crease, scoring only one run. However, David Warner was very aggressive on the pitch. He made a partnership of 71 runs with the new batter, Mitchell Marsh. Depending on them, Australia were getting closer to the target.
But, English spinner Adil Rashid gave a breakthrough to England by taking the wicket of Marsh. He bowled out Marsh in the 9th over. After that, the Aussie skipper also failed to contribute much. But, he couldn’t stay longer.
However, David Warner continued hitting boundaries. He made another partnership of 53 runs with Marcos Stoinis. It seemed Australia could chase the target. But, Stoinis lost his wicket after scoring 35 off 15 balls only. Furthermore, David Warner departed the crease as Mark Wood picked him up in the 17th over. Warner scored 73 runs for the team before leaving the crease. Unfortunately, the other openers couldn’t contribute enough to win this game. They ended their innings with 200 runs. As a result, England won the match by eight runs, and go 1-0 up to the series.