Hazlewood, Zampa close out victory after Head's onslaught

Описание: Australia 179 (Head 59, Short 41, Inglis 37, Livingstone 3-22) beat England 151 (Livingstone 37, Abbott 3-28) by 28 runs

England's new era started with a familiar result: a second heavy defeat to Australia in three months. After a 36-run loss at Barbados' Kensington Oval in June's T20 World Cup, the margin was only eight runs smaller over 4,000 miles away at Hampshire's Utilita Bowl, with Travis Head's powerplay blitz setting up Australia's win.


An England side with an interim captain and coach - Phil Salt and Marcus Trescothick respectively - gave off an air of impermanence, quickly slipping to 52 for 4 in pursuit of 180. Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran - both dropped from next week's ODI squad - added 54 for the fifth wicket, but the innings fell away in the chill.

Sent in after a rain shower which delayed the toss, Australia failed to capitalise on their flying start, losing all 10 wickets for 93 runs after reaching 86 for 0 with one ball remaining of the powerplay. Head and Matt Short hit 15 of the first 35 balls for either four or six, with Head scoring only slightly slower than during his remarkable 80 off 25 against Scotland a week ago.

England's bowlers fought back once the field spread, with their two legspinners - Livingstone and Adil Rashid - returning combined figures of 4 for 45 from seven overs. Regular wickets through the second half of the innings meant Australia were bowled out with three balls unused - not that it proved costly, with Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa proving a cut above.

Travis' Headstart

Conditions could hardly have been more different from the sides' last meeting, with temperatures at least 20 degrees cooler than in Barbados on this bitter mid-September evening. Yet for England's bowlers, the two powerplays felt remarkably similar: Australia's early onslaught brought Will Jacks and Mark Wood's 22-run overs in Bridgetown to mind.

Short, who missed the Scotland series on paternity leave, replaced Jake Fraser-McGurk at the top of the order and pitched a strong case to be David Warner's long-term replacement. They could hardly be more different in stature but Short proved just as imposing, flicking Reece Topley over square leg for consecutive sixes in the second over.
And Head soon took over, making the sort of lightning-fast start that has become his trademark in his second coming as a T20 player. After thrashing Jofra Archer for three fours in four balls, Head successfully overturned a caught-behind decision off Saqib Mahmood. It seemed to prompt a realisation of his impermanence, with Curran bearing the brunt.

Curran conceded a boundary off each of his first six balls, with half of those clearing the rope. Head was a step ahead, predicting where each ball would pitch: whether they were short or full, straight or wide, they disappeared to the rope. After losing his place in England's ODI squad, this was not how Curran would have wanted to start the T20I leg.

Head pulled Mahmood to six to reach a 19-ball 50, the seventh time he had brought up his half-century inside the powerplay this year alone. He fell to the final ball of the powerplay for 59, holing out to deep backward square leg, but Australia's six-over total of 86 for 1 was the third-highest in their T20I history.

Legspin to win

Salt backed his spinners to put the brakes on through the middle and was vindicated straightaway when Rashid's legbreak knocked back Mitchell Marsh's off stump. Josh Inglis kept things moving in his 37 from No. 4, punishing Jacob Bethell when he dropped short, but Livingstone - the seventh bowler Salt used - proved the standout.

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