David Malan’s batting prowess helped England secure the series win against Australia on Wednesday. England now leads the series by 2-0. England’s series win ahead of the World Cup affirms their form for the upcoming ICC event.
After an overwhelming defeat in the first match, Australia was once again up against an all-around English side in a do-or-die contest to level the series. Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bowl, an obvious call considering the conditions and Canberra’s dicey pitch, known for low-scoring games.
As England’s upper order crumbled, David Malan’s batting prowess shined
The opening English pair of Alex Hales and skipper Jos Buttler, who seemed to be in good touch started off well and scored quick boundaries in the first couple of overs. But, Australia struck back with some good bowling from Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, and Adam Zampa.
Though the English batting order is in good form, it crumbled to the Aussie bowling attack, and the wickets of Hales, Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Harry Brook fell in quick succession.
However, just when fans assumed the match to be inclining towards the Australian side, David Malan (82 runs off 49 balls) and Moeen Ali (44 runs off 27 balls) stepped up to the occasion and demolished Australia.
The pair established a partnership of 92 runs in just 52 balls, which helped England post a competitive score of 178 runs in its 20 overs.
Mitchell Marsh and Tim David’s heroics went in vain
The Aussies began their chase at a slow pace against a good T20 bowling unit of England. Just like their English counterparts, the wickets of both the Australian openers fell in the initial overs. David Willey, Reece Topley, and Sam Curran bowled well and maintained the required run rate.
The increasing pressure of the asking run rate forced the Australian batters to accelerate their scoring rate, and in this quest for runs, the Australians lost key wickets of Warner, Finch, and Glenn Maxwell.
Mitchell Marsh (45 runs off 29 balls) and Tim David (40 runs off 20 balls) showed grit and tried their hardest to reach the target, but England kept on taking crucial wickets at regular intervals and denied Australian batters to gain momentum for the run chase and the Australians only managed to score 170 runs in their 20 overs.
England affirms themselves as the contenders for the T20 World Cup
With a series win against the hosts, just before the ICC T20 World Cup, England has become one of the favorites to win the prestigious event.
The English side seems to be well-balanced with a combination of in-form batters and bowlers. All eyes are on this English side, and fans will expect them to continue their competitive cricket in the upcoming T20 World Cup as well.
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