T20 WC 2021: ENG vs AUS Review – England annihilate Australia with a dominant display  

England put up yet another clinical performance as they dominated arch-rivals Australia in the Super 12 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 30. England restricted Australia to a low score and ended up chasing that down in just 11.4 overs with eight wickets in hand. Australia now has two wins from three games while England won their third game on the trot.

England won the toss and elected to bowl first. They got the Aussies choked inside the powerplay, getting the top four wickets for just 21 runs into the game. Australians never found their way back as England’s collective bowling display managed to hold them up completely. Skipper Aaron Finch made 44 runs from 49 balls. Ashton Agar’s run-a-ball 20, Pat Cummins’ 3-ball 12 and Mitchell Starc’s 13 runs from six balls eventually helped Australia end on 125.

For England, Chris Jordan picked up three, Chris Woakes and Tymal Mills took two scalps each while Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone also picked up a wicket each. The English batters made a mockery of the run chase, especially Jos Buttler, who carried them to the target with his 71 runs from 32 balls. Jason Roy made 22 runs while Jonny Bairstow also chipped in with 16 runs.

Top performers:

Jos Buttler:

The Aussies knew they would find it difficult to defend but the attacking batting display from Buttler took them by surprise. He smashed five sixes and five fours on his way to his 71 runs. His fearsome batting has now given England a huge advantage in terms of net run rate.

Chris Jordan: The experienced T20 campaigner came good when it mattered the most. He bowled a spell of four overs in which he gave just 17 runs. He picked up crucial wickets of Aaron Finch, Steve Smith along with the one of Pat Cummins, which was important as well given his ball-striking at the time.

Achievements/Records:

• Adil Rashid became only the third English spinner after Moeen Ali (2014 and 2021) and Danny Briggs (2012) to bowl the first over of the T20 World Cup innings.
• Buttler completed 300 sixes in T20 cricket.

Way ahead:

England will now face Sri Lanka on November 1 while Australia will take on Bangladesh on November 4.