Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
Melbourne: Australia's Glenn Maxwell, Chris Lynn and D'Arcy Short fired with the bat to secure an emphatic seven-wicket victory over England as the hosts booked a place in the Twenty20 tri-series final on Saturday.
In front of a 42,691 crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Short (36 not out), Maxwell (39) and Lynn (31) contributed with crucial boundaries to seal their third consecutive win of the tournament with 33 balls to spare.
England had earlier posted a modest 137 for seven from their 20 overs after stand-in captain Jos Buttler was the only England player to make a substantial score, but even he needed 49 deliveries for his 46.
"It was another poor performance from us, we didn't quite soak up the pressure early on with the bat and then we never really kicked on," Buttler said.
"We never felt we had enough runs and the power of Australia proved too much. We haven't performed to our abilities yet but now we look forward to New Zealand."
The visitors were restricted by a disciplined pace bowling performance from Kane Richardson, who finished with three for 33, while Billy Stanlake claimed two for 28.
England fast bowler David Willey had Australia's stand-in skipper David Warner caught behind with just two runs on the board, giving England a glimmer of hope in the first over but Lynn soon snatched the momentum.
He smashed two fours and a six in the next over from Tom Curran and by the time he was dismissed by Chris Jordan in the final over of the powerplay Australia were in control at 51 for two.
Short and Maxwell took charge against England spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson before Aaron Finch confirmed the victory with back-to-back sixes off Willey.
England next face New Zealand in consecutive matches in Wellington (February 13) and Hamilton (February 18) as they attempt to join Australia in the final.
SCOREBOARD
ENGLAND
J. Roy c A. Carey b K. Richardson 8
A. Hales c A. Finch b B. Stanlake 3
Dawid Malan run out 10
James Vince b Andrew Tye 21
Jos Buttler c A. Agar b K. Richardson 46
S. Billings c D. Warner b B. Stanlake 29
D. Willey c D. Warner b K. Richardson 10
Chris Jordan (not out) 1
Extras (b-2, w-7) 9
Total (7 wkts, 20.0 overs) 137
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-16, 3-34, 4-70, 5-113, 6-133, 7-137.
Did not bat: Dawson, Rashid, Curran
Bowling: Kane Richardson 4-0-33-3; Billy Stanlake 4-0-28-2; Marcus Stoinis 4-0-18-0; Andrew Tye 4-0-29-1; Ashton Agar 4-0-27-0.
AUSTRALIA
D. Warner c J. Buttler b D. Willey 2
D’Arcy Short (not out) 36
C. Lynn c J. Buttler b C. Jordan 31
G. Maxwell c J. Buttler b C. Jordan 39
Aaron Finch (not out) 20
Extras (lb-2, w-8) 10
Total (3 wkts, 14.3 overs) 138
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-51, 3-116.
Did not bat: Stoinis, Carey, Agar, Tye, Richardson, Stanlake
Bowling: David Willey 3.3-0-30-1; Tom Curran 2-0-23-0; Chris Jordan 3-0-26-2; Adil Rashid 4-0-34-0; Liam Dawson 2-0-23-0.
Umpires: Christopher Brown, Sam Nogajski
Video umpire: Simon Fry
Match Referee: Javagal Srinath
