England thrashed Australia by 8 wickets at Dubai. There was absolute Carnage as Jos Buttler & Co chased down the target of 126 runs with 50 balls left (8.2 overs). England now have a far superior NRR (Net Run Rate) of +3.948.
England had won the toss & elected to bowl first. Australia put on an average performance by setting a target of 126 runs. Jos Buttler & Jason Roy negotiated pace bowling for the first 2 overs as the score was 13 runs.
Then both went into ultra attacking mode especially Buttler as England scored 66 runs in the power-play overs. This is the highest power-play overs score in this T20 World Cup. Earlier on 28th October Australia had scored 63 runs against Sri Lanka. Buttler didn’t feared Mitchell Starc as he smacked him for 2 consecutive sixes in the 6th over. Buttler smashed one six at the sight-screen & the other one at long on as he showed how to tackle fast bowlers.
Buttler didn’t stopped his rout as he kept on bashing without hesitating. Buttler completed his half-century in 25 balls which is the fastest in this tourney. There was some soothing on the pain of Australia as they took 2 wickets. Adam Zampa & Ashton Agar took a wicket each. Jason Roy played his role perfectly by playing a second fiddle. Roy scored 22 runs in 20 balls which included 1 four & 1 six. Buttler & Bairstow finished the match in style. Jos Buttler blistered a magnificent knock of 71 runs in 32 balls which is insane as he struck 5 fours & 5 sixes with a strike rate of 221. Bairstow played a cameo of 16 runs in 11 balls which included 2 sixes.
The bowling line up of Australia wasn’t a ‘B’ or ‘C’ grade. The fast bowlers where Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood who are by no means inexperienced at the World Stage. England made fun of them as such a devastating performance can shake any team’s morale.
Australia were invited to bat first. England’s fast bowlers rattled the top-order of Australia. In the power-play overs Australia lost 3 wickets & scored only 21 runs. The likes of Warner, Smith & Maxwell were all sent to the pavilion. Chris Woakes & Chris Jordan scalped the wickets. There was hope that Aaron Finch is still present at the crease. Adil Rashid & Liam Livingstone didn’t allowed any batter to change the momentum.
At 12 overs Australia’s score was 51-5 where they were looking dull. Australia somehow crawled their way back by posting 125 overs where they were bowled out. Finch scored 44 runs but he faced 49 deliveries as he crossed the rope(hit fours) only 4 times. There were knocks played by Matthew Wade, Agar, Cummins & Starc but in bits & pieces. There was a complete performance laid out by bowlers. Chris Woakes was at his peak with the new ball. His figures where 2 for 23. The pick of the bowling line up was Chris Jordan who executed his Yorkers next to perfection. His bowling figures where 3 for 17.
England have got all their bases covered. They would worry that their middle & lower-middle order hasn’t majorly contributed to team’s success. The pitch wasn’t a swing friendly but they bowled accurate lines. England’s next match is against Sri Lanka at 01 November at Sharjah. They as of now have became the front-runners to be the table-toppers.
This is a warning & wake up call for Australia. The pitch was placid & batting friendly where their shot-selection was poor. Dropping Mitchell Marsh & picking Ashton Agar was controversial. Marsh has been recently playing all the bilateral series which were against New Zealand, West Indies & Bangladesh. He was the only positive when Australia was under the radar for the series defeats. Australia’s NRR has taken a huge downfall of -0.627. Their next match is against Bangladesh on 4th November at Dubai. If Australia wants to make it to Semi Finals they have to beat Bangladesh. Australia would have their 4-1 series defeat in their mind.
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