England vs Australia 2020, 2nd T20I, Report: Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, And Bowlers Seal The Series For England

Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan again played central roles as England romped home to a convincing series victory over Australia in the second T20 international in Southampton. With that win, Australia are left to win the last T20I to build up to the subsequent three-match ODI series. It is also the first T20 series that Aaron Finch’s men have lost since November 2018.

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After opting to bat first and unchanged, the tourists found themselves in early trouble after losing Alex Carey and David Warner in the first two overs. Steve Smith struck two meaty blows before a reckless run resulted in his dismissal in the final ball of the powerplay. It was Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis, who were left in the cold to build from scratch.

Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis built nicely and added 49 runs for the fourth wicket. With Finch looking to cut loose, Chris Jordan delivered a short-pitched delivery that the visiting skipper dragged on to the stumps, perishing for 40. Stoinis departed in the next over for 35 as Adil Rashid struck for the second successive time in the final ball of his spell.

It was Glenn Maxwell and Ashton Agar, who dragged their side from there before Chris Jordan removed the former for 26. He bowled yet another successful penultimate over to keep Australia down to a minimum. Jofra Archer’s last over yielded 18 runs that helped Australia get past 150 and set a tricky 158 to win.

Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler make things look easy for England:

The home side raised to 15 off two overs before a hit wicket from Jonny Bairstow provided Australia with their first breakthrough. Malan and Buttler played very much risk-free cricket, adding a match-defining 87 off only 63 deliveries. Ashton Agar’s left-arm spin struck in the 14th over when Malan holed out to Stoinis at deep mid-wicket.

Two overs later, Agar struck again to remove Tom Banton for his second successive single-figure score. When Adam Zampa struck in the 16th to dismiss Eoin Morgan, England still needed 23 off 18 deliveries. However, in the 19th over, Zampa gave Moeen Ali and Buttler three boundaries to seal a series victory for their arch-rivals.

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