It was a one-sided show in Dubai, as mighty England crushed mediocre Australia in match number 26. England now is at the top of the points table in group 1, and Australia hangs on to the second position after their first defeat in the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The greatest rivalry in international cricket was a one-dimensional game as England dismantled the Australian T20 side and made a statement before the Ashes. England has maintained their hot winning streak in this edition of the World Cup and is now one step closer to the semifinals spot.
England’s dominance over Australia
England was on top of their game in their clash against their arch-rivals, Australia. Captain Morgan won the toss and had no hesitation opting to bowl first, as teams chasing have won in Dubai. England was in control from the word go as they strangled Australia with three wickets in the first four overs, thanks to mind-blowing spells by Jordan and Woakes. Australian batters weren’t able to find their timing as they were knocked down by lethal English bowling. Australia couldn’t manage to get the strike rate up until the last four overs. Their cause of concern was wickets as they kept on losing wickets and at the same time lost hope of building a good total to defend. The score of 125 on a batting pitch in Dubai looked poor as England sailed in their batting innings and chased down the total in 11.4 overs, winning the match comfortably with eight wickets and 50 balls remaining.
Complete bowling performance by English bowlers
English bowlers never gave any chance to the Australian batters to get under their skin and hit them for runs. They kept the run rate under six till the start of the death overs. It was a great start by the two experienced white ball pacers of England. New ball spells by Woakes and Jordan gave England the dream start. Woakes started the party with the wicket of the in-form David Warner and the dangerous Glenn Maxwell. Jordan then joined the party with the dismissal of the experienced Steve Smith.
It was an outstanding powerplay for England as they picked up three wickets and conceded just 21 runs at a rate of 3.5. In the middle phase of the game, English spinners Rashid and Livingstone kept things tight as they just gave away 46 runs in overs seven to fifteen. The English bowlers picked up two wickets at just five runs per over. In the death, they conceded a few runs at the rate of 11.6. But things were still under control as Jordan bowled a brilliant spell of death bowling and completed with match-winning figures of four overs, three wickets for 17 runs at a magnificent economy rate of 4.25. On a good pitch, the bowlers won the match for England as they restricted the batting unit of Australia for just 125 runs.
Batting performances
Starting with the Australians, none of their batters found their groove in the first innings. Australia was left with nothing as English bowlers kept on dominating the innings with wickets at regular intervals. Australia’s only hope in their batting innings was their captain Aaron Finch. Even though Finch wasn’t at his actual best, he topped scored the Australian innings with 44 runs off 49 balls. He had to play in this fashion due to wickets falling around him. He steadied the game and started to hit boundaries at the back end of his innings, but he still couldn’t manage to shift his innings to fifth gear and was then dismissed by Jordan. The story of this Australian batting innings was so vulnerable that their best partnership of the game came in between Finch and the tail-ender Agar. It was their partnership for the sixth wicket that provided a respectable score. They managed to add 47 off 36 balls. It was a poor show put on by the Australian batters.
England batters Jason Roy and Buttler started with a flyer. They managed to score 66 runs off just 39 balls scoring at a rate of almost 11. They managed to hit almost every ball to the boundary. They hit each Australian bowler and managed to set the platform for a comfortable chase at the end. After Roy’s wicket, things didn’t slow down as Buttler sprinted through the Australian bowlers. He built quick-fire partnerships with Malan and then Bairstow to finish the match in just 11.4 overs. Buttler top-scored the innings with 71 off 32 balls, scoring at an astonishing strike rate of 221.88. He hit the ball down the ground to both spinners and the pacers. The highlight of his innings was hitting two humongous sixes to Starc towards the midwicket region, with one reaching 105 meters.
Conclusion
It was a pretty easy chase for England as they cruised to the top of the table. Australia has a lot to think about before their next game as they now have to win almost everything to confirm their birth in the semifinals spot. They will have to look at their playing combinations and find a solution for the same. On the other hand, England has recorded three consecutive wins and has almost confirmed its place in the semifinals. England has made its mark in this World Cup by beating its rivals and a good team in Australia. England is one of the favorites to win the World Cup if they continue to play in this fashion.