ENG v AUS, 1st T20I: Travis Head, bowlers fire Australia to big win, 1-0 lead

Australia overcame Phil Salt-led England in the first of a three-match T20I series on a chilly evening in Southampton on Wednesday, September 11.

Travis Head’s sensational half-century, his first in England, and a disciplined all-round effort from the visiting bowlers handed a 28-run win for Australia at the Rose Bowl. Josh Hazlewood led a spirited bowling show as Australia successfully defended 179 runs.

The trend of teams batting first and winning in Southampton continued as Australia’s win was the eighth such instance in the last 11 matches. It was also Australia’s third win in England in a T20I match in 10 attempts as Mitchell Marsh’s men continued their winning run after having beaten Scotland 3-0 earlier in the month.

For England, Phil Salt’s captaincy debut did not go according to plan as Liam Livingstone’s all-round effort went in vain. Livingstone hit 37 and took three wickets, but they were not enough as the home team did not fire in unison despite winning the toss and opting to bowl.

Travis Head won the Player of the Match award for his 23-ball 59, which included four sixes and eight boundaries. It was Head’s first fifty in T20Is in Australia and the left-handed power-hitter forged a successful opening partnership with Matthew Short, who returned to the side for the first time since February.

HEAD BOSSES POWERPLAY

Head and Short, who was picked ahead of Jake Fraser-McGurk, gave Australia a roaring start in the powerplay. While Short went after Reece Topley as early as the second over, hitting the England left-arm pacer for two sixes, Head tore into Sam Curran in the fifth over. Head hit three sixes and as many boundaries, taking 30 runs off the over from Curran. Australia raced to 86 for 1 in the powerplay.

Head’s stay in the middle lasted only six overs, but he made a decisive impact on the game as Australia put the England bowlers under immense pressure. The opening batter was dismissed in the final delivery of the powerplay by Saqib Mahmood, much to the relief of the Southampton crowd.

Head talked up his new partnership with Short, recalling their stint together in the Big Bash League.

“I was trying to acclimatise to a wicket with pace, hitting good shots and Shorty got a cracking start. A good partnership to start the series well. We (Short and I) have played at the Strikers, a consistent theme at the top, we can all play that,” he said.

Adil Rashid struck in the first over after the powerplay, but Short and wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis added 29 runs for the third wicket in quick time.

Short was one of the three victims of Liam Livingstone on Wednesday. The opener missed out on a well-deserved fifty, falling for 41 (26 balls) in the 11th over.

However, Inglis kept the charge going and hit 37 off 27 balls.

At one point, Australia looked on course to post a total in excess of 200. However, Livingstone put the brakes on in the middle-overs with the big wickets of Marcus Stoinis (10) and Tim David (0).

Jofra Archer and Saqib mixed their lengths well in the end overs to restrict Australia to 179. ]\

ENGLAND BATTERS FLOP
However, England were not able to build on the good work done by their bowlers. Will Jacks fell early to Josh Hazlewood and captain Phil Salt managed just 20 (12 balls).

Jordan Cox, one of England’s three debutants on Wednesday, hit 17 off 12, but he was not able to carry on.

Liam Livingstone was the lone bright spot with the bat, but a clever piecce of deception from Hazlewood saw the end of the all-rounder in the 14th over.

England huffed and puffed in the end as Hazlewood and Sean Abbott hit the hard lengths and made it difficult for the lower-order batters to score boundaries.

The pitch seemingly quickened up under the lights and the Australian bowlers made full use of it. Abbott topped the wickets tally with three of them.

Having sealed a 1-0 lead, Australia will be looking to clinch the series when the two sides meet in the second T20I on Friday in Cardiff.