England won the 2nd T20I and the series as they defeated Australia by six wickets at Rose Bowl in Southampton on Sunday. Australia didn’t start well as they lost three wickets in the powerplay.
Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis put up a decent partnership but the England bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals as Australia was restricted to 157-7 in their 20 overs.
Chasing 158, England lost Jonny Bairstow early but Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan ensured that they stay ahead of the game. England lost a few quick wickets towards the end but Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler finished off the game with 7 balls remaining.
The series might be done and dusted but there is a lot to play for in the 3rd T20I. Australia would want to avoid the whitewash whereas if England can win the third T20I as well then, they become the No.1 T20 ranked side in the world. Both the teams would look to fight it out in the third T20I at the same venue on Tuesday.
Match Details
England vs Australia, 3rd T20I
08th September, 10:30 PM IST.
The Rose Bowl, Southampton
Pitch and Weather Report
The temperature will be pretty warm throughout the match and the weather will be mostly cloudy but the good news is that the rain might stay away for the third time in a row.
The pitch hasn’t been as good as it was expected to be but it has played out evenly up till now. Both the bowlers and the batsmen are constantly in the game. A score around 170 would be a good one to defend if you are batting first.
Squads
England
Eoin Morgan (C), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Tom Banton, Sam Billings, 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
While Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan continued from where they left in the first T20I and did a great job for their team, the middle-order failed for the second time in a row and there might be a change coming in there. But they will miss the services of Buttler, who has left the bio-secure bubble to be with his family and miss the third T20I.
Talking about the bowlers, Jofra Archer was at his absolute best in the first couple of overs as he bowled some quick bouncers to trouble the Australian batsmen. There won’t be any changes in the bowling department unless someone has a niggle or needs to be rested for the ODI series.
England will be hoping that they can whitewash Australia and become the No.1 T20I side in the world.
Australia
David Warner, Steve Smith, and Alex Carey failed to fire as they were dismissed in the powerplay. Carey was promoted to No.3 but that didn’t go as expected. Finch and Stoinis did score some runs but the total wasn’t a great one.
Australia started well with the new ball but they lost the plot in the middle-overs as Malan and Buttler dominated the bowling quite easily. Adam Zampa’s form might be a concern for the Australian side.
Australia would desperately want to avoid the whitewash and end the series on a high so that they can take some confidence into the ODI series.
Fantasy Prediction
David Warner, Steve Smith, Tom Banton, Dawid Malan, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Pat Cummins, Adil Rashid
Captain: David Warner, Vice-Captain: Dawid Malan
