Australia vs England. (Photo Source: RANDY BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images)
Facing a strong English side, Mitchell Marsh-led Australians batted first at the Kensington Oval, Barbados on Saturday, June 08. The surface is known to be a decent one for the batters, which prompted openers David Warner and Travis Head to play their shots freely. The duo of Southpaws added 70 runs for the first wicket, as the senior batter departed for a blistering 39 off just 16 balls. Four balls later, Head departed for 34 off 18, by the time Aussies had already made most of the field restrictions.
Thereon, Marsh and Glenn Maxwell also partnered for a half-century stand, before the skipper departed for a 25-ball 35. One invited another as Maxwell too made his way back adding a slowish 28. Decent cameos by Marcus Stoinis, Tim David and Matthew Wade helped the Australians post a fighting 201 on the board at the end of 20 overs.Chris Jordan was the pick of the bowlers with 2/44 while Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, and Jofra Archer too picked a wicket each.
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During the chase, the English never looked in any sort of discomfort until the openers Jos Buttler and Philip Salt made their way back to the dressing room. Both were scoring at brisk rate against the seamers, which is when Adam Zampa said ‘goodbye’ to the duo. At three, Jacks too couldn’t contribute much with a run-a-ball 10. Tight bowling from Pat Cummins (2/23 from 4 overs) and Josh Hazlewood (1/28 from 4 overs) meant that despite having wickets in hand, the Three Lions failed to roar and fell short, as the rival Aussies lost by 37 runs.
AUS vs ENG – Who Said What?
Mitchell Marsh, Australia captain:
Very pleased with that effort, our all-round game is outstanding, it was a great game. The way we started, we learned a lot of lessons from the first game and the boys turned up really well today. The bowlers did their thing so well, we are an experienced team. Patty was outstanding. It was a tough end to bowl, wind was coming in. We need to keep learning from these conditions, keep improving and keep progressing through the tournament.
Jos Buttler, England captain:
They came with a lot of intent, put us under pressure. They also bowled really well, bowled in good channels and also defended really well. The conditions were quite extreme with a shorter boundary on one side. (On Jofra Archer) Great bowler to call on as a captain, great variety and skill, lucky to have him back. Outside the powerplay, it was always going to be a challenge. Zampa bowled really well in the middle overs, their pacers also made use of the longer boundary well. We came second today but it’s laid out for us what we need to do in the coming games.
Adam Zampa, Player of the Match:
I did my best, but it popped out (on the dropped catch). We have played them many times, we know how they play. We knew there was a longer side and we wanted them to access that area. It’s difficult to understand the wickets here in the West Indies, I bowled a few balls and realised that it stayed low, so I needed to bowl on a spot, you never know what’ll happen. I wanted them to come at me and look to attack. We have great depth in our bowling attack, some bowlers bowl to the longer boundary and we used a lot of variations.