England complete convincing eight-field victory over Australia in T20 World Cup; Jos Buttler breaks 71st of 32 balls as Eoin Morgan’s team chases 126 in 11.4 overs; Chris Woakes (2-23) and Chris Jordan (3-17) lead a magnificent bowling effort with the Australians at 125 in Dubai.
Jos Buttler hit an overwhelming 71st of 32 balls to lead England to a complete victory
Jos Buttler hit an overwhelming 71 not out of 32 balls as England maintained their 100 percent start in the T20 World Cup with a landslide eight-field victory over Australia in Dubai.
The victory built on another excellent bowling effort as early wickets by Chris Woakes (2-23), Chris Jordan (3-17) and Adil Rashid (1-19) set the tone, with Australia falling to 21-4 before of finally being thrown for 125 of the last ball of the innings.
Jason Roy and Buttler then went like a train in chase, leading England to 66-0 at the end of the power play, the highest score of any team so far in the tournament after six overs.
Although Roy fell in the next over, Buttler kept going and the Australian bowlers had no answers as he landed England within 12 overs with only 50 balls to spare, bringing them closer to the semi-finals.
After winning the draw and choosing to go bowling, Eoin Morgan made the decision to give Rashid the first lap and after a neat start with the leg spinner, the seamers got down to business.
Woakes caught David Warner with his second ball, followed up with a fantastic one-handed catch in the middle as Jordan knocked out Steve Smith and then cut one to catch Glenn Maxwell and leave Australia reeling at 15-3.
It only got worse for the Australians when Rashid duped Marcus Stoinis with a googly to get the lbw off-roader and, with England in complete control, Aaron Finch, who had seen the early collapse from the non-front end, and Matthew Wade had little choice, but try a slow rebuild.
They added 30 in the next 5.3 overs before Wade (18) holed out to give Liam Livingstone (1-15) an advantage his disciplined bowling deserved.
Ashton Agar (20) took a couple of hard shots against Tymal Mills, but England’s left arm caught him deep before Pat Cummins dug in his first two balls for six.
Jordan came back to fire Finch (44) at the start of the 19 and dropped Cummins (12 of three) with a crushing yorker.
Mills (2-45) was again a bit expensive in the last over but after Adam Zampa’s run, Mitchell Starc caught back with the last ball to round things out for England.
Australia needed early terrain to have any hope of defending such a low-par total, but the much-vaunted trio of rapids – Starc, Cummins and Josh Hazlewood – never really threatened.
Buttler had already taken Starc out for four when Roy walked down and dismissively slapped Hazlewood’s first ball on the side of the leg.
Cummins was the next to feel the wrath of the England starters with Roy hitting the ball over the side of the leg; the sound of the bat alone would have been enough to confirm that the ball was going all the way for six.
Buttler hit Agar in the fourth over to really move and Starc’s six straight, the second of them effortlessly thrown to the top level, in the last over of the power play really showed England’s dominance.
Zampa had Roy (22 of 20) lbw in review early in the seventh and Agar caught Dawid Malan (8), between whom Buttler nailed Starc for a pair of four and lifted a 25 ball half a century with another powerful . six, this time on Zampa’s head.
Zampa’s punishment continued with Buttler’s fifth sixth, gleefully slammed into the ground, before the starter surrendered to Jonny Bairstow, who pushed the next two into the crowd to drive another nail into Australia’s coffin.
Victory for England was secured in the next over and they can reserve their place in the semi-finals with a win over Sri Lanka on Monday, while Australia falls to third place, behind South Africa in net run rate, after their first defeat of the tournament.
Chris wake up For a long time, Woakes was England’s unsung hero in all formats, but his performances with the new ball in cue ball cricket are worthy of all the praise he has received of late. He knocked out two of Australia’s most dangerous hitters in a superb opening spell, his ability to get the ball out of the seam was perfectly displayed in Glenn Maxwell’s ejection, and he also took a brilliant catch, for good measure.
Chris Jordan – After a slow start to the tournament, England’s most experienced T20 closer was in good shape. It’s his death bowling that has made him a mainstay on the side, but he showed that he can also have an impact on Steve Smith’s wicket power play. Two wickets in two balls at the end of the 19 was more than England had expected from the 33-year-old fast pitcher, and the Yorker castleing Pat Cummins showed why he has been so effective in that phase of the game.
Jos Buttler – this was a masterclass from England’s first game, perhaps the most dominant hitting performance of the tournament so far and it made it all seem so simple. Five fours, five six and an Australian attack full of top-tier bowlers treated with disdain. With Buttler in this form, they will always have a chance.
The next step for England is a trip to Sharjah to face Sri Lanka on Monday (1.30pm Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event), while Australia’s next match is against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday (9.30am Sky Sports Cricket). and Main Event).
Sunday will see another double header of Super 12 action, with Afghanistan taking on Namibia in Abu Dhabi (9.30am, Sky Sports Cricket) before India and New Zealand meet in Dubai (2.30pm, Sky Sports Cricket).
