A collective show from Australia, both with bat and ball especially Adam Zampa and Pat Cummins , helped them secure a comfortable victory against England in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday . England started well in the chase but couldn’t maintain the intensity after Adam Zampa removed the openers as they were restricted to 165/6. Pat Cummins, who replaced Nathan Ellis for this game, also made an impact with figures of 2-23.
England weren’t able to build a partnership during this phase, with Adam Zampa and Co. providing timely strikes, and had too much ground to cover in the back end of their innings, leaving them winless after two matches.
Pitch and Toss
It’s hot, but there’s a nice breeze blowing across the ground, at a speed of 25 kmph. 58m and 67m square boundaries, the straight hit is at 72m. A fresh pitch today, but t’s very similar to the other pitches, there are cracks at both ends. The average score in the 1st innings is 143, you can add another 10-15 runs considering the teams featuring today, but this ain’t a 180-190 run wicket, reckon Matthew Hayden and Nasser Hussain, in their pitch report
England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to bowl with no changes in the team which played versus Scotland. Australian team under Mitchell Marsh batting first made one change in the Playing XI replacing Nathan Ellis with Pat Cummins
A blazing start from Warner and Head
With two left-handers at the crease, England chose to open with Moeen Ali’s offspin, and he conceded only three runs in the first over, keeping Travis Head in check. However, the introduction of Will Jacks from the other end proved costly. Head smashed two consecutive sixes over midwicket, while David Warner swept him fine for a maximum, resulting in Jacks conceding 22 runs. Jofra Archer bowled the third over efficiently, not allowing any boundaries, but Mark Wood’s following over was expensive.
Warner hammered three sixes and a four to the leg side, adding 22 runs and pushing Australia past 50. In the next over, Head targeted Moeen, hitting a four and a six off successive deliveries, and Warner also struck a boundary before being bowled by one that stayed low. Archer then responded to being hit for a four by Head by dismissing the opener with a well-executed slower ball.
For the first time in their T20 history, England opened the bowling with spin from both ends. It didn’t work: Moeen Ali’s first over cost only three runs to Head and Warner, Australia’s left-handed opening pair, but Jacks – who had only bowled two overs in his 14 previous T20Is – was pumped over the short boundary three times in four balls.
Wood took over from Jacks at the same end and his first over was equally as expensive: he tried to tuck Warner up and bowl to his sweepers, but instead fed his strengths and was cracked over the short side for three more sixes and a four. Moeen broke through when a ball skidded under Warner’s bottom edge, but only after conceding two fours and a six in his second over.
Jofra Archer was the quickest England bowler to adjust to the conditions, using his slower balls and dragging his length back, and could celebrate a first international wicket in Barbados when his off cutter burst through Head and hit middle and off stumps. Even still, Australia’s 74 for 2 was their highest powerplay at a men’s T20 World Cup.
Marsh-Maxwell stand powers Australia
The scoring rate dipped slightly, but Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell ensured the boundaries kept flowing, particularly targeting Adil Rashid, who conceded 20 runs in his first two overs. Having brought up the quickest fifty and the highest powerplay score in this World Cup, Australia also reached the fastest 100, getting there in 9.3 overs. Archer was doing a tidy job, keeping Australia in check with his change of pace, but Marsh managed a six over midwicket when he offered some pace.
Chris Jordan started economically with a five-run over, but Maxwell hit him for a six and a four in his next over, and Marsh also added a boundary in an 18-run over. The partnership between Marsh and Maxwell reached 65 runs before the former was stumped off Liam Livingstone in the 14th over. Maxwell fell shortly after, pulling Rashid straight to deep midwicket. In the same over, Marcus Stoinis got going with a one-handed sweep shot for a six.
England started to drag things back when the field spread, though Mitchell Marsh continued to find the boundary. He nailed a pull over midwicket and onto the solar panels on the roof of a stand off Adil Rashid, and swung Archer over the leg-side boundary after the mid-innings drinks break.
Glenn Maxwell’s 28 off 25 was his joint-highest T20 score since February but he and Marsh fell within four balls of one another: Marsh was stumped by Buttler at the second attempt off Livingstone’s leg spin, and Maxwell picked out deep midwicket off Rashid. At 142 for 4 in the 15th over, Australia needed a strong finish.
Handy contributions help Australia past 200 first time in the World Cup
Stoinis got his second six by slamming Livingstone straight down the ground and Tim David hit his first maximum by going over extra cover off Jordan. David as also put down by the bowler in the same over but Jordan eventually got him, caught at extra cover. Matthew Wade got off the mark with a four off Jordan and then hit a four off Rashid, as did Stoinis, as the leg spinner finished with 1 for 41. Wade struck a four off Archer in the 19th over and also got a caught-behind decision reversed.
Stoinis hit a four off Jordan in the final over as Australia became the first team to cross 200 in the tournament. Jordan then got his 100th T20I wicket by having Stoinis caught in the deep off a pull. Cummins was run out and Wade got only a single off the last ball as Jordan conceded only eight runs.
Marcus Stoinis, Tim David and Wade ensured they reached 200 with regular boundaries at the back end and England became ragged in the field: Rashid threw his hands up in frustration when Stoinis picked up four from a toe-ended reverse-sweep, Archer and Jonny Bairstow leaving the ball to one another at point and backward point.
England openers start well in the Powerplay
Despite being hit for a four by Phil Salt, Mitchell Starc gave away only six runs in the opening over. Jos Buttler got his first runs by coming down the track and slashing a Hazlewood delivery past point for a four and struck another four through the midwicket region. Salt struck a 106-metre six off Starc over midwicket for the first maximum of England’s innings and Buttler ended the over with his third boundary.
Salt executed two powerful cut shots off Hazlewood for boundaries in the fourth over. Cummins gave away only eight in his opening over after being cut for a four by Salt. Buttler’s four over cover off Stoinis helped England past 50 but the bowler kept it tight otherwise, conceding only six.
England’s openers looked to maximize the powerplay, with Buttler using his feet to target Josh Hazlewood and Salt launching a 106-metre six off his Kolkata Knight Riders team-mate Mitchell Starc. The seventh over, Starc’s third, then cost 19: Head caught Salt at deep third but while stepping on the boundary, and Buttler picked off a six then a four.
Australia pull things back with regular wickets as Adam Zampa shined in middle overs
Salt would have been out in Starc’s third over but Head, who held on to the ball at deep point, stepped on the ropes. Buttler hit a six in the same over, going over midwicket, and put away a low full toss for a four. Adam Zampa ended the 73-run opening stand by having Salt bowled with a quick delivery.
Will Jacks struck a four off Cummins before Buttler hammered Adam Zampa for a six over long off. The leg spinner Adam Zampa, however, hit back with the wicket of the England skipper whose attempted reverse sweep resulted in a catch to backward point. A fine diving catch by Mitchell Starc gave Stoinis the wicket of Jacks. A couple of economical overs from Maxwell and Adam Zampa added more pressure on England.
Moeen Ali injected some momentum with three sixes to the leg side off Maxwell in the 14th over. But Jonny Bairstow, who was struggling to get going, fell in the next over mishitting a Hazlewood delivery to deep midwicket, and the bowler gave away only 2.
But on a dry surface, Adam Zampa was the key bowler and struck with his first ball, which crashed into the top of Salt’s off stump as he looked to create room to cut. In Adam Zampa’s second over, Buttler swung him down the ground for six but then reverse-swept straight to Pat Cummins at point, leaving 109 required off the final 10 overs.
Disciplined Australia complete second win over arch rivals England
Will Jacks cracked one boundary off Cummins but then picked out Starc at long-off, who took an excellent diving catch off Stoinis, and Bairstow looked short on rhythm throughout his 13-ball 7. Moeen briefly threatened something special, hitting three sixes in a Maxwell over, but the required rate proved insurmountable.
Needing 76 off the last five overs, with a required rate of 15.2, England had no other option apart from attack and in the process lost Moeen, who sliced Cummins to deep cover where Warner took a good catch. Hazlewood followed it up with a six-run over, leaving England needing 66 off the last three overs.
Livingstone struck a six off Adam Zampa but England had just too much to do in the last two overs. Cummins accounted for Livingstone to finish with 2 for 23 and Stoinis, despite being hit for two fours by Harry Brook in the last over, completed a good bowling performance from Australia as England ended way short of the target.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Mitchell Marsh the winning skipper said : Very pleased with that effort, our all-round game is outstanding, it was a great game. The way we started, we learned a lot of lessons from the first game and the boys turned up really well today. The bowlers did their thing so well, we are an experienced team.
Patty was outstanding. It was a tough end to bowl, wind was coming in. We need to keep learning from these conditions, keep improving and keep progressing through the tournament.
Jos Buttler the loosing skipper said : They came with a lot of intent, put us under pressure. They also bowled really well, bowled in good channels and also defended really well. The conditions were quite extreme with a shorter boundary on one side. (On Jofra Archer) Great bowler to call on as a captain, great variety and skill, lucky to have him back.
Outside the powerplay, it was always going to be a challenge. Zampa bowled really well in the middle overs, their pacers also made use of the longer boundary well. We came second today but it’s laid out for us what we need to do in the coming games.
Adam Zampa Player of the Match for his immaculate bowling said: I did my best, but it popped out (on the dropped catch). We have played them many times, we know how they play. We knew there was a longer side and we wanted them to access that area.
It’s difficult to understand the wickets here in the West Indies, I bowled a few balls and realised that it stayed low, so I needed to bowl on a spot, you never know what’ll happen. I wanted them to come at me and look to attack. We have great depth in our bowling attack, some bowlers bowl to the longer boundary and we used a lot of variations.
Australia outplayed England in Barbados to leave the defending champions sweating on their qualification for the Super 8s. They posted the highest score of the T20 World Cup to date after David Warner and Travis Head blitzed 70 runs in the first five overs, before Adam Zampa made the difference in England’s lackluster run chase.
England, by contrast, fell away badly after Adam Zampa accounted for both of their openers – Jos Buttler and Phil Salt – inside his first 11 balls. They were 73 for 0 after seven overs but only managed 92 for 6 in the following 13, their middle order failing to adjust to a dry pitch quickly enough against a clinical Australian attack.
A convincing win for Australia! The way Head and Warner raced away in the powerplay after their team was put into bat, they always had noses in front. There were good contributions from their middle and lower middle-order as well. Once Australia posted above 200 on the board on a variable surface, it was always going to be an uphill task for England. The response from the English openers, Buttler and Salt, was good though.
A strong powerplay kept the Englishmen in the game. But, Adam Zampa came into bowl and change the complexion of the game. The leggie first got rid of Salt with a slider and then induced a false stroke from Buttler soon after. The Australians pacers bowled a lot of cutters and their spinners bowled in probing channels.
The choke was on and the English batters succumbed under pressure as they kept losing wickets. The required rate spiraled out of control and that led to their downfall. Brilliant all-round performance from Australia today. England have dug a hole for themselves and their hopes of staying alive in the tournament are hanging by a thread.
There’s something about Australia on the big stage! They come together as a unit and give their best shot whenever they step out onto the field. There’s a lot to learn for the others. Temperament and character is what matters under pressure and the Men in Yellow have that in abundance. Meanwhile, the defending champions, are in a precarious situation. If the washout against Scotland hampered their chances, today’s loss against Australia has jolted them.
Australia, the table-toppers of Group B, will head to Antigua where they will face Namibia on June 11. England have a four-day break before their game against Oman in Antigua on June 13.