The hosts lost shortly despite Tim David’s 40 off 23 balls and Mitchell Marsh’s 45 off 29 balls. With one game remaining in the three-match series on Friday, Sam Curran scored 3-25 to give England a 2-0 victory against the World Cup champions.
The visitors defeated Australia in the second Twenty20 international by eight runs on Wednesday, sealing the series and giving them more confidence going into the World Cup thanks to Dawid Malan’s 82 and England’s disciplined bowling. Malan and Moeen Ali (44) collaborated on a key 92-run stand in Canberra that helped England amass 178-7 against an aggressive Australian assault. The hosts lost shortly despite Tim David’s 40 off 23 balls and Mitchell Marsh’s 45 off 29 balls. With one game remaining in the three-match series on Friday, Sam Curran scored 3-25 to give England a 2-0 victory against the World Cup champions.
England captain Jos Buttler described the victory as “very rewarding” after his team had set a goal and lost the toss.
“In my opinion, we displayed outstanding character, and Malan played brilliantly to anchor the innings.”
Malan saved the visitors after they slipped to 54-4 in the ninth over with a 49-ball innings that featured seven fours and four sixes.
After winning the toss and deciding to bowl, Australian captain Aaron Finch made five changes to the team that also lost in Perth by eight runs, and Ali was equally spectacular.
After being rested for the first T20, the hosts’ pace spearheads Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood, as well as spinner Adam Zampa, all made their comebacks.
On 17, Buttler lost to Cummins, and Zampa had a challenging high catch.
After scoring 84 runs in 51 balls in Perth, Alex Hales only needed seven balls to score four runs before being caught by David Warner off Marcus Stoinis.
Ben Stokes, a star all-arounder, followed his recent poor form by being bowled by Zampa for seven, and when Harry Brook got an edge off Stoinis, they were down at 54-4 and in trouble.
However, Malan was unshakeable and skillfully filled in the gaps to reach his 14th half-century.
Ali was trapped on the ropes before a late flurry from Malan, who was out in the penultimate over, and Zampa ultimately broke the partnership by enticing Ali into another massive shot.
When we had them four down in the first 10 overs, we were “very bad in the field, clumsy, dropped a number of opportunities,” recalled Finch.
Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, two pacemen for England, were rested, yet they still managed to contain Australia.
In previous games, Finch was positioned lower in the lineup, but he was reunited with Warner for the first time since their tour of Sri Lanka in the middle of the year.
But he never did relax, and he was cheaply out for 13 again.
Australia was suffering at 22-2 in the fifth over when Warner, who has been on fire, came in three balls later and took three balls for four runs.
Glenn Maxwell resumed his recent slump by getting out for eight runs, but Marsh and Marcus Stoinis quickly put together a 40-run partnership to keep them in the game.
David and Matthew Wade would decide whether Australia would succeed or fail. Stoinis went for 22, then Marsh. They needed 59 runs from the final five overs, but they were unable to provide the necessary explosions.
