England took a lead in the three-match T20I series after defeating Australia in a nail-biting encounter at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Friday. Australia dominated the game for most of the period but still lost the game by two runs as they had a disastrous collapse in their innings.
The England batsmen were on fire from the word go and it seemed as if they were looking good for 200 but the Australian bowlers pulled it back and restricted them to 162-7 which seemed as a below-par total at the halfway stage.
Australia was cruising as they needed 39 off 34 balls with 8 wickets in hand, but the England fast bowlers initiated a collapse. Australia couldn’t recover from the collapse as they lost the game by two runs.
Talking about the 2nd T20I, Australia would desperately want to level the series as England would love to carry the winning momentum and win the series. It would be another cracking contest on Sunday at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
Match Details
England vs Australia, 2nd T20I
06th September, 06:45 PM IST.
The Rose Bowl, Southampton
Pitch and Weather Report
Even though the weather is going to be cloudy, the rain might just stay away and we will get a complete 20-over game with no interruptions. It will be pretty warm throughout the game.
Both the teams didn’t bat well enough and as a result, we saw a 160 game. The pitch is a decent one and if you bat sensibly then anything around 180 would be a good score. Even though Australia lost while chasing, both the teams would love to chase if they win the toss.
Squads
England
Eoin Morgan (C), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Joe Denly, Tom Curran, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid
Reserves: Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood
Australia
Aaron Finch (C), Steve Smith, David Warner, Alex Carey (WK), Josh Philippe, Matthew Wade, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Daniel Sams, Sean Abbot, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Riley Meredith, Kane Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa
Team News
England
Dawid Malan seems to be the most underrated T20 batsman around the world. He did it once again as he notched up his eighth 50+ score in just 14 games. Jos Buttler gave a perfect start and that’s what is expected from him. Banton and Morgan would look to score some more runs in the 2nd T20I.
The fast bowlers were brilliant as they brought England back in the game and defended under pressure at the death. Having won the game, most probably there won’t be any change in the playing XI for England.
Australia
The Australian players hadn’t played cricket since March and that was visible in their middle-order batsmen as some of them looked out of touch. Aaron Finch and David Warner almost put up a century opening stand before the disastrous collapse.
Talking about the bowling, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa weren’t at their best. Ashton Agar who got hit for 16 runs in his first over made a good comeback and picked up two wickets. Kane Richardson and Glenn Maxwell also picked up two wickets each.
Even though Australia lost the game, there might not be any changes in the XI as the players would need some time to get back in form.
Fantasy Prediction
David Warner, Aaron Finch, Eoin Morgan, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Jofra Archer, Kane Richardson, Adil Rashid
Captain: Jos Buttler, Vice-Captain: Aaron Finch
