Led by Travis Head‘s blazing 23-ball 59, Australia powered away to a 28-run win over England in the first T20I at the Rose Bowl. It was a day where the bowlers had ample wickets to take back, with all 20 falling across two innings, but Sean Abbott stood out with his spell of 3 for 28.Travis Head is in some outstanding T20 form at the moment.
Travis Head showcased a scintillating display of power-hitting in the first T20I against England in Southampton. Whether it was IPL, the Major Cricket League, T20 World Cup or the recently concluded T20 series against Scotland, the opposition has been on the receiving end with Travis Head being able to consistently churn out one assault after another in the powerplay and England found themselves against one on Wednesday evening at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton.
Pitch and Toss
The pitch at the Rose Bowl is known for being a good batting surface, especially in the initial stages of a match. The surface is typically flat, with even bounce, which allows batters to play their shots freely. However, the pitch also offers assistance to bowlers, particularly the seamers, early on due to the conditions typical of English pitches.
There wasn’t much grass on the surface and some of the bigger boundaries in the country could should suit Australia. The autumn weather is set fair, if chilly by the evening. The match is a sellout and Hampshire are switching on 1000 solar panels at Utilita Bowl before the game.
The pitch is conducive to batting and has an average first-innings score of 172. That does not mean the chasing team has any drawbacks. The deck will remain the same for most of the game. Australia managed to score the highest total at this venue 248 against England in 2013. The bowlers might have to rely on early swing. The weather will be partly cloudy with a 13 percent chance of rain during the game.
England skipper Phil salt won the toss and chose to field first with Jacob Bethell and Jordan Cox making their T20Is debuts in the match. Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh who also wanted to bowl first made three changes in the squad bringing in Josh Hazlewood, Xavier Bartlett and Matthew Short.
Travis Head’s Onslaught on Sam Curran makes Australia seizing the Powerplay
The most productive period for the batters came in the Powerplay after Australia were put in to bat. After a fairly watchful start, yielding 11 runs in the first nine deliveries, Matthew Short cut loose, tonking Reece Topley for consecutive sixes.
The most productive of the overs in that period was the fifth when Travis Head, who had made a fairly slow start with three runs in six balls, went after Sam Curran and hammered three sixes and as many fours in a 30-run over as Australia cruised to 86 in the powerplay. That said, the southpaw eventually fell off the last delivery of the phase.
Travis Head showcased a scintillating display of power-hitting in the first T20I against England in Southampton, providing the perfect start for Australia in the series. It took Travis Head just seven balls to get going, hitting his first boundary with an elegant off drive off Jofra Archer. From there, he switched gears rapidly, moving from 3 off 6 balls to 15 off 10, hammering Archer for three fours in the third over of the match.
The fireworks truly began when Travis Head faced Sam Curran in the fifth over. He reserved his most aggressive play for the England all-rounder, smashing him for three fours and three sixes to collect a massive 30 runs in the over. The assault began with a boundary over mid-on off a slower ball from Curran, followed by a beautifully timed shot through the off-side. Travis Head, in his usual attacking style, showed no signs of slowing down, especially after his record-breaking performance against Scotland the previous week.
Travis Head’s first six came with a commanding short-arm pull over deep square leg, displaying his immense power and precision. Despite Curran’s attempts to adjust his length, Travis Head continued his rampage. He sent the next delivery soaring over the ropes with a front-foot swing across the line, and his third consecutive six came off a full, wide delivery that he elegantly drove over covers, sending the ball deep into the stands. The over concluded with a powerful one-bounce four, further highlighting Travis Head’s dominance.
Travis Head smashed 59 off just 23 balls, of which 30 came in just one over. Travis Head went on a rampage against Sam Curran, who took to the slower ball from the first delivery itself. The bowlers have a very little margin against on-song Travis Head these days and the shorter length cost Curran on Wednesday evening. Travis Head welcomed Curran with a boundary over mid-on on a slower short ball.
Another short ball was cut past the point and covers for a boundary. The third delivery, one more short ball, was pulled for a six over deep square leg. Curran bowled a little fuller on the fourth delivery before being dispatched for a second six over long-on this time. The left-armer got it even fuller outside the off-stump and Head hit it over the covers before finishing up with a third four between covers and long-off. Australia raced to 71 in five overs while Head completed his fifty off just 19 deliveries.
Adil Rashid and England bowlers strike back to restrict Australia to 179 in 20 overs
The English bowlers ensured that Australia couldn’t return to their attacking ways as quickly as they would’ve liked following the departure of Head. Short, who had also blazed away to a strong start departed soon after the field restrictions were taken off, becoming the first of Liam Livingstone’s three victims in this period. The all-rounder seized the momentum by dismissing Marcus Stoinis and Tim David off successive deliveries in the 13th over.
Attempts to hit their way out of trouble didn’t quite prove too successful as Jofra Archer, Curran and Saqib Mahmood kept chipping away with wickets in the death overs, with no one in the Australian lower order being able to make a noteworthy contribution. The visitors were bundled out with three balls left in their innings.
Head’s whirlwind half-century, which came off just 19 balls, included eight fours and four sixes, giving Australia a blazing start. Alongside Matthew Short, who contributed 41 off 26 balls, Head built an 86-run opening partnership that set a strong foundation. However, Australia’s innings saw a dramatic shift after Head’s dismissal to Saqib Mahmood.
The introduction of spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone slowed the momentum, causing a middle-order collapse. Despite being 86/1 in the powerplay and 118/2 after 10 overs, Australia’s last eight wickets fell for just 61 runs, with the team being restricted to 179, a below-par total given their strong start.
Salt backed his spinners to put the brakes on through the middle and was vindicated straightaway when Rashid’s legbreak knocked back Mitchell Marsh’s off stump. Josh Inglis kept things moving in his 37 from No. 4, punishing Jacob Bethell when he dropped short, but Livingstone – the seventh bowler Salt used – proved the standout.
He had Short well caught by Curran at deep backward square leg, then struck twice in two balls. Marcus Stoinis crunched Livingstone back over his head for six but was trapped lbw on the reverse-sweep, and Tim David was smashed on the front pad while sweeping his first ball to leave Australia 132 for 5 in the 13th over.
Curran recovered from his early struggles to bowl a reverse-scooping Inglis, before Archer and Mahmood rearranged the lower order’s stumps with a series of yorkers and low full tosses at the death.
Australian bowlers caught England cold feet in the early stage of their batting
England attempted to be on the offensive much like Australia, but didn’t get the desired results. Barring the fourth over in which Jordan Cox and Phil Salt combined to hit four boundaries off Josh Hazlewood, it largely remained a phase where the Australian bowlers could impose themselves. After dismissing Will Jacks in the second over, they could have almost had the wicket Cox too, but Bartlett dropped a return chance. Nonetheless, his stay didn’t last too long, as he along with Salt were both dismissed in the Powerplay.
Temperatures dropped to single figures during the run chase, and England’s batters could only rarely warm the 15,011-strong crowd by prompting the pyrotechnics that greeted every boundary. Hazlewood, returning after a calf complaint, struck in his first over to have Jacks caught at long leg and England struggled to keep the required rate in check.
A superb outfield catch from David, running back from mid-on to deep midwicket and diving at full stretch, accounted for Jordan Cox on international debut. When Salt picked out Short at deep square leg off the final ball of the powerplay, England were in trouble – and it got even deeper Bethell misjudged the length of Zampa’s legbreak to chop onto his stumps.
Livingstone tried England’s comeback but eventually Hazlewood and Zampa bowls Australia to victory
Much like it was with their bowling performance, England put up an improved act in the middle overs with the bat as well. Yet again, it was largely due to the efforts of Livingstone, who smashed a 27-ball 37. In the company of Sam Curran, he offered a brief hope of a revival of a chase that had never really taken off. Despite scoring at nearly 9-an-over through the middle overs, four more wickets had further dented their chances.
There wasn’t much of a resistance offered from the English lower order. With the required rate mounting and barely any wickets to play with, the lower order tried to swing their way out of trouble but only with limited success as Australia ensured there were no late twists.
Livingstone, promoted to No. 4 from his usual finishing role, took Stoinis for 17 in an over to give England a glimmer but when he and Curran fell within four balls of one another, the game was done. The only blemish for Australia came in the form of an apparent side strain for Xavier Bartlett: Cameron Green had to complete his fourth over, and later took an extraordinary diving catch running back from mid-off to remove Rashid.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Phil Salt the loosing skipper said : They played well. They got a start. We dragged it back towards the end. When the ball starts flying like that, we could have done better. Maybe some clarity in the next game. Teams get good starts but you try and drag them back. They did bowl well. We could have taken partnerships deeper later.
Mitchell Marsh the winning skipper said : Pretty exciting. Head is a special talent. The par score was about 200. Very lucky to have some of the guys. We applied pressure. Was a great wicket. I thought we made good use of the powerplay.
Travis Head Player of the Match for his blistering innings said : Nice start. Nice to get away quickly. I just tried to score. The wickets against Scotland were very different. We were trying to use the pace on the ball. Guys have been playing together for the last couple of years. The coach and captain want me to bat freely. I try to whack it every time.
At the half-way mark, it seemed England were complete control. But they lost three wickets inside the powerplay. Liam and Curran tried to build a partnership but once that was broken, it was Australia all the way. Abbott starred with a three-wicket haul and Zampa as usual did his business with a couple of wickets. The visitors go 1-0 up in the 5-match series.
England tried to field their next gen players today and some of them fared decently. England’s bowling was good apart from the initial onslaught from Head and Short. They got off the blocks a bit too quickly and England players didn’t know what hit them. They wrestled back the momentum but England didn’t bat well and the batters were reliant on Livingstone to carry the fight forward. But he fell and England’s chances were over.
England’s new era started with a familiar result: a second heavy defeat to Australia in three months. After a 36-run loss at Barbados’ Kensington Oval in June’s T20 World Cup, the margin was only eight runs smaller over 4,000 miles away at Hampshire’s Utilita Bowl, with Travis Head’s powerplay blitz setting up Australia’s win.
An England side with an interim captain and coach – Phil Salt and Marcus Trescothick respectively – gave off an air of impermanence, quickly slipping to 52 for 4 in pursuit of 180. Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran – both dropped from next week’s ODI squad – added 54 for the fifth wicket, but the innings fell away in the chill.
Led by Travis Head’s blazing 23-ball 59, Australia powered away to a 28-run win over England in the first T20I at the Rose Bowl. It was a day where the bowlers had ample wickets to take back, with all 20 falling across two innings, but Sean Abbott stood out with his spell of 3 for 28
Sent in after a rain shower which delayed the toss, Australia failed to capitalize on their flying start, losing all 10 wickets for 93 runs after reaching 86 for 0 with one ball remaining of the powerplay. Head and Matt Short hit 15 of the first 35 balls for either four or six, with Head scoring only slightly slower than during his remarkable 80 off 25 against Scotland a week ago.
England’s bowlers fought back once the field spread, with their two leg spinners – Livingstone and Adil Rashid – returning combined figures of 4 for 45 from seven overs. Regular wickets through the second half of the innings meant Australia were bowled out with three balls unused – not that it proved costly, with Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa proving a cut above.