Right then, that’s us. Here’s Vic Marks’ match report. Ta-ra for now.
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Collecting the man of the series away on behalf of Jos Buttler, he says he’d have been captain had he been around tonight, and that just having him around even when he doesn’t play well is amazing. There’s then confusion as to who collects the series trophy, so Moeen takes it and can barely bear to pick it up.
Moeen is honoured to captain the team and says the pitch was difficult first up, but England were 15 runs short and poor in the field. If they’d taken their chances, they’d have won, he says, but they didn’t back the bowlers up.
Aaron Finch says his team “know where they messed up” in the first match of the series, and it was nice to get over the line tonight. The plan was to pick up low-risk boundaries, and in general he thinks his team weren’t too far off their best. He’s confident with how they “structure up” the team – that sounds like a Langerism if ever I’ve heard one, imagine when they get to be “elite structure-uppers” – and thinks his team are well-placed for the ODI series and T20 World Cup next year.
Mitch Marsh is man of the match and says he’s pleased to get into the middle after so long without cricket, and enjoyed being given pace to play with. There’s a lot of competition to get into the Aussie side, but he hopes to stay in.
It’s also worth noting that, in the end, good bowling is good bowling. There wasn’t much especially T20 about what Hazlewood and Starc did, other than make it hard for the batsmen to score by hitting challenging lines and lengths. Australia will, though, have a problem if they can’t find a way to do better against Rashid, who’ll have 10 overs at them in the ODIs.
That’s a really good innings from Mitch Marsh, who got in the necessary biffs while staying calm and mainly working the ball about. England were missing Stokes, Root, Buttler and Morgan, but were very poor today.
So the series is in the book. Australia will feel they could’ve won 3-0, and will be “spewing” they messed up the first match, but ultimately the team who wins is the team who deserve to win. The ODI series, featuring three games on the best pitch in England, at Old Trafford, will be worth our time.
AUSTRALIA BEAT ENGLAND BY FIVE WICKETS WITH THREE BALLS TO SPARE! THEY LOSE THE SERIES 2-1 BUT MOVE BACK ABOVE ENGLAND TO SIT AT NO1 IN THE T20 RANKINGS
19.3 overs: Australia 146-5 (Marsh 39, Agar 16) Marsh forces to mid off and another throw comes in ... and another throw misses! England’s fielding tonight has been supremely dreadful.
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19.2 Marsh knocks straight to cover. Australia need 1 from 4.
19.1 Marsh picks out the fielder. Australia need 1 from 5.
19th over: Australia 145-5 (Marsh 38, Agar 16) Target 146 Jordan, not Archer, will take the final overs, from which Australia need one.
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18.6 overs Marsh forces down the ground for one, with mid off dreaming off liquorice allsorts made of furry lawmowers. Australia need 1 from 6.
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18.5 overs Marsh taps to midwicket. Australia need 2 from 7.
18.4 overs Curran tries a slower-ball bumper which Agar bumps around the corner for one. Australia need 2 from 8.
18.3 overs Curran is full and wide, and Agar drives past mid off for four! Nearly there! Australia need 3 from 9.
18.2 overs Marsh taps into the covers. Australia need 7 from 10.
18.1 overs Moeen goes for Curran not Archer, which doesn’t impress Warne, and Agar pulls for one. Australia need 8 from 11.
18th over: Australia 137-5 (Marsh 36, Agar 10) Target 146 Moeen decides that this over should go to Jordan; perhaps he thinks it’ll be harder to hit Archer’s pace when under pressure in the final over. This is getting tense, so it is! All the more so when Jordan’s first three balls yield just two singles. The fourth is almost yorker-length, also sent down the ground for one, and then Agarnicks a single, Malan, who’s had a mare in the field, making hard work of his turn and missing with his throw. And there’s more! Marsh hammers towards Wood at midwicket, who thinks there’s a catch when there isn’t – the ball dies in front of him, then beats him for good measure, and they run two. Australia need 9 from 12 balls.
17th over: Australia 131-5 (Marsh 32, Agar 8) Target 146 In commentary, they’re saying it was an error to give Marsh pace to hit, as he grew up in Perth and is used to facing it. But I can see why Moeen thought Wood was a good choice, even if it didn’t come off, though I think he should’ve bowled himself for more than one over. He chucks Curran the ball, though, and Australia milk him/he restricts Australia to five from the over. Australia need 15 from 18 balls.
16th over: Australia 126-5 (Marsh 28, Agar 7) Target 146 For those of you watching on telly, it’s going to look like I’m copying Nasser, never a bad plan, but Moeen has rotated his bowlers really well so far, and now he brings back Wood to increase the pressure. But what a response from Marsh, who cleanses his loosener flat over cow corner for six! Brilliant shot! Then, after a dot, Marsh turns to leg and another poor throw allows him two; England’s fielding has been bile and drains tonight. AND MIGHT THIS BE THE CRUCIAL OVER?! Wood hurls down one full and outside off, so Marsh frees his arms and goes hard, absolutely zetzing to the point fence for four. A dot follows, then a wide, then a single, and that’s 14 from the over; Australia need 20 from 24 balls.
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15th over: Australia 112-5 (Marsh 15, Agar 7) Target 146 Finch was out to a jaffa and Smith got a good one too, but Maxwell tossed his wicket playing an extravagant shot when all he needed to do was be sensible. Whatever the way he plays is, he didn’t to play a reverse sweep then, and to contradict myself, surely Smith could’ve found a way to keep out Rashid’s final delivery. Instead, Australia need 41 from 36 balls, with Archer, Wood and Jordan set to bowl 30 of them. And Archer returns, ceding two twos and three singles; increasingly, it’s looking like a pressure last over or two.
14th over: Australia 105-5 (Marsh 13, Agar 2) Target 146 Suddenly, Australia have no one you’d trust to see them home; a run a ball is easy if you’re a proper batsman, but harder if you’re inconsistent and playing under pressure, for your place in the side. Moeen brings himself on, and cedes five singles. Both sides would’ve took that.
13th over: Australia 100-5 (Marsh 10, Agar 0) Target 146 Rashid finishes with 3-21 from his four overs, the final wicket coming with the final delivery. What a spell!
WICKET! Smith c&b Rashid 3 (Australia 100-5)
Hello! Hello! This is sensational bowling from Rashid, who now has Maxwell, Finch and Smith. He pitches one full, Smith doesn’t make up his mind what to do, and checks a late push that turns into a leading edge. We got ourselves a ball-game!
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13th over: Australia 100-4 (Smith 3, Marsh 10) Target 146 Is Moeen going to bowl himself? In the meantime, it’s Rashid, who almost induces an edge first ball, which is just as well for Malan, who can’t hang on, scrabbling about on the turf grabbing at air. Then we see a replay and there was indeed an edge; that’s three drops now, Malan with two of them.
12th over: Australia 97-4 (Smith 2, Marsh 8) Target 146 Eesh! England bring Denly on, he lands one, finds a bit of turn, and Marsh nicks ... but Malan was slow to move, allowing the ball past him for four! That might be the moment that seals this for Australia.
11th over: Australia 89-4 (Smith 0, Marsh 2) Target 146 Marsh gets off the mark with two to leg, but that’s two wickets from the over for Rashid, who was key in both England wins in this series. Can he do it again?
WICKET! Finch b Rashid 39 (Australia 87-4)
Oh yes! This is a gorgeous ball, given air and twizzle; Finch doesn’t pick the googly, looking to heave through cover, and is absolutely diddled through the gate. Has Rashid turned the match?
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NOT OUT!
Neither edge nor glove, but a decent take from the keeper, diving unsighted.
11th over: Australia 87-3 (Finch 39, Smith 0) Target 146 Rashid sends one down leg side and the umpire signals wide, but England think Finch hit it – Bairstow is confident – so review...
WICKET! Maxwell c Curran b Rashid 6 (Australia 86-3)
Maxwell follows one, trying an entirely unnecessary reverse-shovel, on the stretch, and picking out the man at backward point.
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10th over: Australia 86-2 (Finch 39, Maxwell 6) Target 146 Maxwell takes two to midwicket, then takes another one to that same area. But at this point, economy won’t do it for England – they need wickets – and they don’t even have that, two twos coming from the final two deliveries of the over making seven in total. They need 60 to win, from 60 balls, which is to say that this looks extremely over.
9th over: Australia 79-2 (Finch 35, Maxwell 3) Target 146 Nice from Australia, looking to be positive against Rashid so he can’t get into rhythm. So four singles and a two follow, then Finch misses a full-bunger at which he chucks all of his considerable self, doing his elbow a mischief.
8th over: Australia 73-2 (Finch 31, Maxwell 1) Target 146 The batsmen crosses so it’s Finch on strike and he shoves one to midwicket, hauling Maxwell for a red bull single; if Billings hits, he’s gone by miles, but the shy isn’t that close. Still a wicket and three singles makes this England’s best over of the innings, and by a distance.
WICKET! Stoinis c Banton b Curran 26 (Australia 70-2)
Curran tries a slower one and again Stoinis gets under it without getting all of it, sending a spiraller to deep square that Banton has to dive to grab.
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7th over: Australia 70-1 (Finch 29, Stoinis 26) Target 146 England’s powerplay score was the lowest of the series and Australia’s is the highest. But can Adil Rashid, into the attack now, put the brakes on again? Not for now; Finch waits for him and gets right on top of a drive to long off for four. And, and, and oh goodness me! Finch larrups high into the air, Bairstow calls it, runs to get under it ... and somehow shells it! You do not see behaviour like that often, from Bairstow or from anyone with the gloves on, and Rashid, who was also under it, is audibly unimpressed.
“Can we agree that an England T20 team without Buttler and Morgan isn’t really the same (not even thinking of the players from the other bubble that aren’t there)“ says Brendan Large. “We can not judge this performance too critically especially against an angry Australia after two beatings.”
I agree. But England’s batting wasn’t good enough, and we can’t pretend that it was.
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6th over: Australia 61-1 (Finch 22, Stoinis 24) Target 146 Moeen persists with Wood, as he probably has to, but then his first ball is cut away, cut away for four by Stoinis, thanks to a misfield at backward point by Banton. And then, after a dot, he hangs back to a bumper, hops away from it, and off balance, creams four over fine leg. He’s enjoying his promotion to three, and Wood’s extra pace, and after he nicks a single to mid off, Finch square drives the final ball of the over for four. The required rate is now 6.07, and England need a lot of wickets to even make this a contest.
5th over: Australia 48-1 (Finch 18, Stoinis 15) Target 146 Jordan replaces Archer; he needs three to overtake Stuart Broad as England’s most prolific in T20 cricket. Finch takes his first ball for one, then Stoinis pulls his third, back of a length, for four in front of square. Australia have read this pitch well – they’re sitting back and waiting for the ball to arrive. But then Stoinis comes down, getting to the pitch; it looks like he’s going to smash it into another dimension, but he doesn’t get all of it and has to make do with two ... before cudgeling back past the bowler for four. Australia are making light work of this.
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4th over: Australia 36-1 (Finch 17, Stoinis 4) Target 146 Wood is really into this – does Moeen bowl him through, hoping to get another wicket or two, or hold him back for later in the innings, when the match might be over? One wide from the over, then Stoinis goes at the final delivery, gymming six over Wood’s head; that’s a boundary from the last ball of each of his overs now.
WICKET! Wade c Jordan b Wood 14 (Australia 31-1)
Wood looked good in his first over and skids one across Wade at quite some velocity. He goes at it nonetheless, and can only larrup a dolly to mid on.
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3rd over: Australia 31-0 (Wade 17, Finch 17) Target 146 Archer will be smarting from that first over, and the batsmen will be mentally preparing for some short stuff. But Archer goes mainly full ... then tries one back of a length that Finch pursues, hurrying through a shot and somehow top-edging for six!
2nd over: Australia 22-0 (Wade 12, Finch 10) Target 146 Wood charges in needing wickets – if these two bat 10 overs, this won’t be close. And this is a good over, singles coming from its first two balls which are followed by three dots ... and then he strays onto the pads, so Finch hoists him over midwicket with intense joy. At this stage, England were 4-1.
1st over: Australia 16-0 (Wade 11, Finch 5) Target 146 Archer is over 92mph from the start and after Wade nurdles his first ball away for one, Finch waits for his second, clumping a pull with both feet off the ground and it goes for four. He then gets down the other end, allowing Wade to glove a bouncer that’s leg-sidish for four more. They’re waiting for Archer, so he needs to go fuller ... and he does, but Wade nails him ... right into Finch, otherwise that was four. But doesn’t he make up for it next ball! Archer goes full on off, and Wade picks him right up, levering him high over midwicket for six! That’s 16 from the over, and England are in trouble already.
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Archer will bowl...
Right then, off we go: who will finish the series are number 1 in the world?
Despite some years looking forward to the opportunity to make some kind of crack on OBO about ‘The Bell End’ when the genius himself retired,” says Steve Morgan, “now that we are here I feel too sad to go through with it. Aren’t we all getting old!”
And mature! But yes, it’s the end of an era isn’t it – and what an era. I’ve had some phenomenally happy days watching Bell bat, on here, in the ground and on telly. On which point, if anyone’s not seen the Edge, then see it - the good bits are amazingly good, and it’s particularly brilliant on the way down.
That wasn’t a good batting effort from England – of their 12 boundaries, a fair few came off edges and toes. That tells us that this is not an easy pitch on which to bat, but whatever we call the opposite of scoreboard pressure might make it easier for them.
It’ll take something special from England’s openers, you’d think; if Australia are in command when Rashid comes on, you’d back them to milk him and do enough when Jordan appears at the death.
England set Australia 146 to win!
19th over: England 145-5 (Denly 29, Curran T 2) Curran forces to midwicket and they run one; England will want at least a couple of boundaries from the remaining three deliveries. But Denly can only toe-end to extra and they run one more, then Curran gets a splinter on one that’s a wide if he lets it go. Here comes the final ball, and Curran can only muster one more to mid off. That’s a fine bowling and fielding effort from the Aussies, who will feel this is theirs to lose, but England have some nifty bowlers and fielders of their own...
WICKET! Jordan c Smith b Richardson 4 (England 141-6)
Richardson bowls one into the deck and Jordan chucks everything at it, but the lack of pace makes it hard and he offers Smith a simple snaffle and long on.
19th over: England 141-5 (Denly 26, Jordan 4) Quite handy having a bowler as good as Mitchell Starc, but of what animal do his bounds remind me? I’m not sure, but probably one from a cartoon. And after three singles from four balls – he’s bowling quick here, above 90, and giving Denly grief with the yorker – he sees Denly coming for him and absolutely nails the lid with a bumper. This is exactly the kind of over you want at this stage of the innings, and after the physio comes on for the obligatory check of the batsman, he keeps Denly ot a single from his final ball. Excellent over, five from it, and Starc finishes with 1-20
18th over: England 136-5 (Denly 25, Jordan 1) Richardson returns, bowling into the pitch so that Denly is right on top of it when it arrives, forcing two off the midriff. And when the same thing happens next ball, he makes room and a bottom edge gets four, then another slower one is cut-edged hard for four more! Denly on the charge gentle perambulation! And have a look! Another slower one, another cut-edge for four! That’s three in a row! Two singles follow, neither of them courtesy of the middle, making it 16 from the over.
17th over: England 120-5 (Denly 10, Jordan 0) The pitch looks a bit sticky, but England will struggle to defend this against a side who know they need not take many risks to win.
WICKET! Ali c Smith b Starc 23 (England 119-5)
Moeen catches this one, swinging it over to the fence at deep midwicket, where Smith catches stuck-on, realises he’s going over, so tosses it up and walks under it to catch at the second attempt. That’s really well done – he stayed so calm – and England are in shtuck.
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17th over: England 119-4 (Ali 23, Denly 9) Starc returns, and that 160 I mentioned earlier looks a way away. He goes around to Denly then, after a single, moves back over the left-handed Ali.
16th over: England 116-4 (Ali 22, Denly 7) Agar to rush through his final over, which yields four singles before Ali whacks the final delivery back down the ground, but long off runs around to keep it to a two.
15th over: England 110-4 (Ali 18, Denly 5) After Denly gets off the mark with a single, Moeen twinkles down the track and lifts Zampa back over his head for six. A single follows, then Denly unloads the suitcase at the final ball, muscling a slices four over extra. Still, Australia would’ve took this, as Ryan Giggs would say, and Zampa finishes with 2-34 off his four.
“Perhaps Zampa’s been trying some Japanese whisky instead of Highlands single malt, says Colum Fordham, “which has enabled him to bring in some variations with his bowling as he does seem to be tossing it up more in line with Warne’s recommendations.
Bairstow seems to be swatting balls instead of flies now and Moeen may just have got his confidence back to judge from his uppercut off Josh Hazelwood. Important as our batting line-up looks rather fragile.”
It’s the second week in September now, we’re moving away from Highlands towards Speyside, before diving into Islay round about November. These are the laws.
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14th over: England 98-4 (Ali 11, Denly 0) Moeen carves behind towards third man, and though Zampa dives, he can only divert the ball over the fence for four.
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WICKET! Bairstow c&b Agar 55 (England 94-4)
Huge wicket for Australia! Agar fires one and a very strange height, leg side, and Bairstow appears to have premeditated a pull which becomes a hook, ballooning towards midwicket. There’s no fielder there, so Agar hares after it and takes a goodun on the stretch.
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14th over: England 93-3 (Bairstow 55, Ali 7) Agar to rush through another, starting with a single and a leg bye.
13th over: England 92-3 (Bairstow 54, Ali 7) After a dot and two ones Bairstow loses patience, skipping down to turn a decent delivery into a half-volley which means he can muscle it for six even though he doesn’t get all of it. That’s his fifty, reached by hanging in there when he was’t timing it.
12th over: England 83-3 (Bairstow 46, Ali 6) I guess England will want about 160 from here, but with Hazlewood returning they might look to the other end for the body of them. Moeen takes him for one, then after a leg bye he gently flourishes an uppercut for a two-bounce four. So Hazlewood replies with a well-directed bouncer, and that’s him done for the evening.
11th over: England 77-3 (Bairstow 46, Ali 1) Decent comeback from Zampa after getting cleansed over the fence.
WICKET! Billings c Finch b Zampa 4 (England 76-3)
Billings tries a reverse but Zampa gets enough turn and bounce to catch the gloves and Finch, at slip, catches above his shoulder.
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11th over: England 69-2 (Bairstow 39, Billings 2) Zampa continues and Bairstow, who’ll want to dominate this innings now, carts his first ball over square leg with malice aforethought then nudges a single.
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10th over: England 69-2 (Bairstow 39, Billings 2) Bairstow takes two to fine leg, then takes a prance down the pitch to mass-murder Agar over long on. But Agar comes back well, ceding just a one and two from his remaining three balls, then Nasser points out that this is England’s worst powerplay since they lost to West Indies in Kolkata.
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9th over: England 58-2 (Bairstow 30, Billings 2) A single off each of the remaining five balls of Zampa’s over.
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WICKET! Malan c Stoinis b Zampa 21 (England 53-2)
Malan looks to slog sweep but Zampa sees him coming, tweaking his first ball just that little bit harder than usual so that when it bounces higher he doesn’t get all of it, and Stoinis, sprinting in, dives forward to hold a screamer at deep midwicket.
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9th over: England 53-1 (Bairstow 27, Malan 21) Zampa into the attack, which reminds me of an interview I read with him earlier today, in which he said:
““I’ve always taken a couple of bottles of whisky on tour with me,” he says. “A few of the boys have started to do it too.
“We have a whisky club. At night people will bring different bottles. Some like Japanese. I like Scottish Highlands. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have started to enjoy it and a few other guys are starting to dabble.”
Yes, the Aussies have a kiddush club.
8th over: England 53-1 (Bairstow 27, Malan 21) Agar into the attack, and Malan slog-sweeps his first delivery for two, but only because Hazlewood, running around the boundary, palms it back into play, table-tennis style, then Malan gets right foreard, turning a length ball into a half-volley. If he misses, he’s dead, but he’s not in missing form, clobbering four to deep square. A single follows, then Bairstow scythes well outside off, between point and 45 and that’s four more, backed up by a brace to point. 13 from the over, and England are starting to motor.
7th over: England 40-1 (Bairstow 21, Malan 14) Bairstow is warming up, leaping onto his tippy-toes to punch a lovely drive through cover for two. The other five balls of the over yield singles, and England will be wanting to get going.
6th over: England 33-1 (Bairstow 17, Malan 11) Bairstow misses a force into the leg side and wears it on the thigh; there’s another rejected appeal, and this time Australia have no recourse. There follows a no ball, then an edge for four by Bairstow, who’s trying to swing his eye in ... and maybe he has, swatting the next delivery from outside off to the midwicket fence. Lovely shot. On which point, what is going to become of him? If he’d been dropped from the Test side when it was time, he might’ve gone away, worked on his technique and forced himself back in by now. But instead they kept picking him as though hie could play his way through his faults, and now you wonder if limited overs will be his thing. It’d be a shame, because he’s got so much talent, but it’s also possible that mentally, he can’t flit between formats.
“Loved the ‘Josh Hazlewood running in to bowl’ video, says Bill Hargreaves. “I always thought that fluid terminator was a double for Brett Lee.”
I can see that too.
5th over: England 23-1 (Bairstow 9, Malan 10) Bairstow pulls two to fine leg. He can’t find the middle at the moment.
“Re Jason Roy’s injury,” says Gary Naylor, “Michael Atherton said that he was never afflicted with a bad side – that’s not how we remember much of the 90s.”
Maybe he means that they weren’t imposed on him, he just selected them.
NOT OUT!
It looked like there might’ve been an under-edge, but the replay suggests he bothered the air just above the ball. Australia have now burned both reviews.
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5th over: England 21-1 (Bairstow 7, Malan 10) Kane Richardson into the attack and Bairstow forces his loosener for two down to deep square. But what’s this?! Bairstow steps away, tries a flip, and looks to scoop, missing; that looks out to me, but after the appeal is denied there’s no review, and a replacy suggested Bairstow flicked his own pad. Next ball, though, Bairstow looks to pull from outside off, misses, and there’s an appeal, then a review when it’s rejected.
4th over: England 19-1 (Bairstow 5, Malan 10) Hazlewood is doing very nicely here; maybe being good is being good. But he has a bit of bad luck when Malan top edges a decent bouncer for four, and two singles follow. This has been a good start for Australia.
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3rd over: England 13-1 (Bairstow 4, Malan 5) Bairstow forces one down the ground and they run three, while Warne discusses Buttler, saying that the fear of what he might do to you is a big thing. The same was so of Warne, who’d somehow convince batsmen they’d played a bum shot after hitting him to the fence. Anyhow, Starc hurls one at Malan’s hip and Malan sn’t missing out, hoiking behind his right buttock for four. But he gets away with one next ball, misjudging the pace of a bumper that’s onto him quickly and pulling tamely, just about eluding the man at mid on. A wide and a single follow.
2nd over: England 4-1 (Bairstow 1, Malan 0) Malan likes to have a look at the bowling before throwing hands, and has been told that’s ok by Eoin Morgan. He edges his first ball into his pads and can’t nab a single.
WICKET! Banton c Wade b Hazlewood 2 (England 4-1)
This has been a good start by Australia and this is a good ball by Hazlewood, inviting Banton to hit over the top while crowding him for space and moving the ball away. He looks to free his arms, and edges behind.
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2nd over: England 4-0 (Banton 2, Bairstow 1) Warne really likes Hazlewood as a Test cricketer but wonders if he has the variety for the shortest form. But perhaps he can vary his line by moving about the crease, even if he sticks to the same length. Anyhow, the batsmen rustle a single each.
Josh Hazlewood running in to bowl.
1st over: England 2-0 (Banton 1, Bairstow 0) Banton bunts to mid off and Bairstow sprints through for the single, then Starc sends down a very wide. I love watching him, but I wonder if he’ll ever be a brilliant bowler, or will just be a brilliant bowler at his best.
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NOT OUT
We don’t even get to see if it went down, because Banton, looking to turn towards midwicket, got an inside edge to the ball.
1st over: England 0-0 (Banton 0, Bairstow 0) Starc finds a bit of swing but from too straight, his second delivery rapping the pad on its way down. And then again! Full and straight from Starc, not out says the umpire, and Australia review! Might’ve just been going down...
Mitchell Starc has the ball, and off we go.
Here come the teams...
But for all the brilliant innings(es), this is easily the highlight of Bell’s career.
World-beating like-I-saying from Ian Bell. pic.twitter.com/qvEOJ4SACX
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) February 19, 2020
“I’m worried that I might have cast the runes that led to Bell being out for 90,” says Tom van der Gucht. “I’d literally messaged a Warwickshire-supporting friend with a screenshot of the score and a comment about not wanting to jinx him only to see upon hitting the refresh button that he’d been bowled by my cricketing near-namesake Tim van der Gugten. My apologies to all the fans out there and to the man himself.”
“This is probably a bit harsh,” says Will Lane, “but for all the chatter surrounding England’s strength in depth we manage to put Denly in the starting XI. How on Earth has that happened?! Injuries is the answer I know but nonetheless, how has that happened?!”
I guess because he’s a good fielder, can bowl, and a solid citizen. I don’t suppose he’d be my choice, but in the absence of Morgan, Roy, Stokes and Buttler, he provides some calmness and experience.
“One thing I have liked about this weird summer of cricket, is that once it started, the cricket has just kept on coming, domestically as well as internationally,” emails Andrew Cosgrove. “I will try and enjoy this week as much as possible.
I have two comments to make:
1) Surely dominant team with strength in depth, you have to look at the All Blacks. For a lot of the last I don’t know how many years, New Zealand and New Zealand A (or North Island and South Island) would have been there or thereabouts.
2) If you asked me to name a dominant England batsman in an Ashes series, I would instantly think of Cook in 2011. It felt like he was batting for the whole series.
Hoping tonight’s game won’t be an anticlimax after the two previous games.”
Agreed, the diet of discovered cricket has been a triumph. I guess New Zealand won two World Cups in a row, 2011 and 2015, so maybe.
“We often debate whether captaincy affects Joe Root’s batting,” says Smylers. “But something about Sunday’s coverage did make me wonder if Eoin Morgan also is wearing too many hats.”
I can only defend my N3 brethren. We lead where others follow.
Email! “Looking forward to the game tonight from Zürich!” says Ken McMahon. “Depth always a great topic and plenty of it in NZ rugby (winners of the World Cup final with their 4th-ranked number 10) and of course Aussie rugby league who could play whoever won Origin and replace them with the losing team and still win.”
Yeah, I wondered about an All Blacks team, but don’t know very much about union.
The way Finch talked about it, it seemed like Carey is injured but Cummins and Warner are left out. He – and Stoinis – have had a lot of chances, more than they’d get if they were English at the moment. Dawid Malan, who averages over 50.87 in 15 T20s, with a strike-rate of 157.73, doesn’t get in the top three when Bairtstow, Buttler and Roy are all available.
Teams!
England: 1 Tom Banton, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Sam Billings, 5 Moeen Ali (capt), 6 Joe Denly, 7 Tom Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Mark Wood.
Australia: 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Marcus Stoinis, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitch Marsh, 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Kane Richardson 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam Zampa.
So Banton will indeed open the innings. As Buttler said the other day, it’s the best place to bat in T20, and he’s not done well enough this series, so will fancy it tonight.
Moeen will captain England and says it’s a huge honour. He enjoys the responsibility and always being in the game, but doesn’t think he’ll be as good as Morgan, though he’s encouraged others players to become leaders. Morgan and Buttler are out, Billings and Denly are in.
Three changes for Australia: Warner, Carey and Cummins out, Hazlewood, Marsh and Wade in.
Updated
Australia win the toss and will field.
They think it looks like a good wicket and will skid on under lights.
Updated
Eoin Morgan’s dislocated finger looks set to keep him out this evening. A shame, as he’s in stupid form even for him, but what can you do.
Moeen Ali has come out to finish the warm-up at the Ageas Bowl in full kit, so looks like he'll stand in as England captain tonight
— Matt Roller (@mroller98) September 8, 2020
In the second half of his career, he scored so many tough runs – always in beautiful style. As a combo, you cannot beat that, and I wonder, had Mark Ramprakash been managed in the same way and played with players as good, whether he’d have filled in the missing bits too. He’s the great lost talent of my lifetime, I think, which sort of brings us back to Buttler again. It was dicey, but I’m so glad they stuck with him in Tests; doing well over the long format can only be good for him in the shorter ones.
I can’t think of many like him – not players who started badly and found a way, but players who were mentally weak and found a way not to be. That is very unusual indeed, and says a very lot for Andy Flower. And for Ian Ronald Bell.
Back to Ronald, he managed a mere 90 in his final knock. Read about that – and more – here.
I have recently become lost down a rabbit hole of extended remixes.
Not bad.
I don’t properly remember the 1985 Ashes, so feel comfortable saying Bell’s batting in the 2013 Ashes – Bell’s Ashes - is the best I’ve ever seen from and England player, across a series. Absolute, total mastery.
I enjoyed this, by Andy Bull, on IR Bell.
Preamble
A question: has any sports team ever had the strength in depth that England now have in limited-overs cricket? Australia in the 90s perhaps have a claim, likewise the current France football team, but I can’t think of many times management could pick two XIs, two XIIIs or two XVs and expect either of them to beat any opposition.
But we can nevertheless assume that Eoin Morgan will pick what he deems the best side available to him. Partly because it’s rare a team get to paste Australia to nil, but mainly because whoever wins will finish the series top of the world rankings.
So the likelihood is that, if Eoin Morgan is fit, England will make just one change, replacing Jos Buttler, who is celebrating his birthday with a trough of WKD by unbubbling with his family, thereby allowing Tom Banton to move to the top of the order. Which brings us back to where we started, except Australia have a habit of ruining England’s hopes and OBO preambles alike.
Play: 6pm BST
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