Australia edged out England by four runs in the second and final Twenty20 International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday to level the series 1-1.
With this loss, England's world record eight match winning streak in Twenty20 Internationals also came to an end.
Australia, after opting to bat first, posted 147 for 7 in its 20 overs. England started off briskly but later lost its way in the chase and ended up at 143 for 6 to finish on the losing side.
Earlier, Australia rode on a brisk start by David Warner (30: 26b, 3x4), but quickly slipped from 63 for 2 to 80 for five. It required a 51-run stand for the sixth wicket between Aaron Finch (53: 33b, 4x4, 2x6) and Steven Smith to give the score some respectability. For England its spinners Graeme Swann (2-19) and Michael Yardy (2-19) bowled well.
England began its chase in fine fashion with Ian Bell (39: 30b, 3x4) and Steven Davies (29: 26b, 2x4) adding 60 in 7.2 overs. But a middle-order collapse followed. England moved from 60-0 to 88-4 and thereafter fell behind the asking rate. Chris Woakes spanked a straight six off Brett Lee in the last over to bring in some excitement into the contest but it was too little too late.
All-rounder Shane Watson (2-17) and fast bowler Mitchell Johnson (3-29) were the best bowlers on view as Australia snapped their five-match losing streak in Twenty20 Internationals.
No comments:
Post a Comment