England suffered a heavy defeat to rivals Australia in the first T20I after Travis Head hit a brilliant half-century at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton.
Australia’s opener Head (51) launched a lethal assault on the hosts with a scintillating 19-ball fifty after being inserted to bat. He shared the crease with Matt Short (41) and shared an 86-run opening stand before the tourists collapsed to 179 all out.
England spinner Liam Livingstone (3-22) and fast bowler Jofra Archer (2-31) both took two wickets in the same number of balls to initiate a brilliant fightback which saw the Aussies lose their final seven wickets for 47 runs.
England’s innings began in dramatic fashion after captain Phil Salt (20) was caught off a no-ball but the hosts managed to stumble to 46-3 by the end of the powerplay with debutant Jordan Cox contributing 17.
A partnership between from Liam Livingstone (37) and Sam Curran (18) worth 54 runs helped breathe life into England’s innings before the pair were removed by Josh Hazlewood (2-32) and Sean Abbott (3-28) respectively.
England required a near-impossible 35 runs from the final over, and Australia completed a dominant 28-run victory as Abbott splayed Saqib Mahmood’s stumps.
Australia go 1-0 up in the three-match T20I series which continues in Cardiff at Sophia Gardens on Friday September 13, live on Sky Sports.
England’s bowlers provide box office entertainment
Head looked lethal at the crease as he whacked Curran (1-35) for 30 runs in the fifth over to motor Australia to 86-0 by the end of the powerplay before he top-edged a short ball from Mahmood (2-21) to Cox at deep square leg.
Australia’s skipper Mitchell Marsh (2) followed his team-mate four balls later when he was bowled by Adil Rashid (1-23) after playing across the wrong line.
Josh Inglis (37) helped to steady the ship with two boundaries and one six in his 29-run partnership with Short before Curran caught the latter at deep backward square.
Livingstone (3-22) took two wickets in two balls to trap Marcus Stoinis (10) lbw and have the dangerous Tim David depart for a golden duck to shift momentum into England’s favour.
Curran found Inglis’ off-stump with a slower delivery, the batter attempting to reverse-scoop as England continued their squeeze.
Archer followed Livingstone’s lead and bowled Abbott (4) and Xavier Bartlett (0) in consecutive deliveries to leave the tourists 172-8.
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Jofra Archer took two wickets in two balls before Saqib Mahmood bowled Cameron Green at the start of the 19th over as England fought back against Australia in the first IT20.
Mahmood completed the team hat-trick with an impeccable yorker that crushed Cameron Green’s (13) stumps and Australia’s innings ended three balls short of their quota when Zampa (5) was run out by Cox to leave Josh Hazlewood (2no) stranded.
Australia keep England batters at bay
England’s innings began in equally dramatic fashion when captain Salt (20) was caught off Bartlett’s (1-26) no-ball as the hosts trudged to 46-3 by the end of the powerplay.
Will Jacks (6) was the first back to the dugout after he holed out to deep backward square before Salt and Cox smashed 18 off Hazlewood’s over to counter-attack.
David completed a spectacular catch sprinting backwards to cling on to a steepler from Cox ,while Salt pulled to Short in the deep to end the powerplay.
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Australia’s Tim David took a sensational catch as Jordan Cox departed for 17 on his England debut.
Leg-spinner Zampa (2-20) dislodged debutant Jacob Bethell’s (2) leg-stump with a brilliant delivery that skidded on and went through the left-hander’s defences to leave the hosts on 68-4 after 10 overs.
Livingstone added much-needed resistance, collecting 17 runs off a Stoinis (1-30) over, and he was supported by Curran to drag England from a precarious 52-4 to 108-6. However, the England pair departed in the space of four balls.
Zampa caught Curran at backward square whilst Hazlewood claimed the prized scalp of Livingstone who inside-edged on to his stumps leaving the hosts on 108-6.
Jamie Overton (15) briefly added to England’s tally with back-to-back boundaries off Green (1-14) but was bowled by Zampa to further dent their hopes.
Green took a stunning grab to dismiss Rashid (7) while running backwards, leaving England on 142-9 as the crowd began to lose hope and head home.
Requiring 35 runs off the final over, Mahmood (12) smashed Abbott for six over long-on as the remaining crowd cheered but the England pacer was bowled the next delivery.
Watch England vs Australia live on Sky Sports Cricket this September as the sides meet in three T20 internationals and five one-day internationals.
The second T20I is at Sophia Gardens on Friday September 13 with coverage from 6pm ahead of the first ball at 6.30pm.