David Warner and Aaron Finch accepted the blame for failing to bring Australia to the other end of the line in the opening T20I at the Ageas Bowl, but the surprising collapse renewed focus on their middle order, which has been the team’s only area. you have had problems. when necessary.
After a starting position of 98 in 11 overs, Australia’s equation was reduced to 39 of 35 balls, apparently a gallop with Warner and Steven Smith going well, but Adil Rashid struck twice in his last over, the second scalp when Glenn Maxwell chose not to. see the leg clamp, and the one named Marcus Stoinis struggled to find the rope.
The final six overs of Australia’s chase brought only a limit as Stoinis managed to knock Tom Curran over long in the last, but was then unable to scramble the necessary nine of the last four balls.
The loose finish echoed Australia’s only other recent T20I loss to South Africa, in Port Elizabeth, when they failed to chase 160 despite being 98-1 in the 13th with Warner and Smith set. On that occasion, Warner was stranded as the middle order achieved only one boundary between them. This time Warner was part of the meltdown when he cleaned up making room for a Jofra Archer Yorker.
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“We are proud to be there at the end,” Warner said. “We talk about one hitter being there and coming in, and the next one coming in and trying to take those calculated risks, and we hit to the end. If you get a good pitch, you can’t do anything about it, but that’s what we pride ourselves on and that’s basically what our game is based on. “
Finch defended Smith’s shot selection, choosing the deep midwicket, and Maxwell, who threw a drive to cover in Rashid’s final over.
“They were both playing a game plan, so I think if you can separate the execution and the game plan, you can look a little deeper,” he said. “The T20 games are about making sure you make your choices and matching them with the right game plan so there is a lot to work on. I would probably be more critical of myself and Davey, who helped us get off to a good start and none of us really started to make a winning contribution. “
While Australia won seven of their eight completed T20Is last season against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa, the middle order was not put to the test during that period due to the success of the top three. However, defeats here and in Port Elizabeth in February highlighted what this team’s weakness is.
“We knew England were going to keep coming in hard and they executed very well,” Finch said. “We just struggled to find the limit a little bit at that 12-18 mark. That’s something we need to keep working on and it’s not the first time that has happened, so as long as the guys keep learning and improving, the lesson learned.”
It is notable that the highest score for a batter at 4-8 in that span, those who could be seen as needing to finish an inning in a variety of situations, was Smith’s 30 on 15 balls when he was pushed down. to No. 5 against South Africa in Cape Town.
There has also been a reasonable rotation of players at those positions, including Ben McDermott, Ashton Turner, Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh. The last two are part of this tour but it was the players who made way in this match for the return of Maxwell and the slightly surprising memory of Stoinis.
Two days before the series, coach Justin Langer said he saw Stoinis having to force his way back to the side at the top of the order, which is where he had a prolific Big Bash last season, but eventually came back in the No. 5.
“I think we have to try to get a little bit smarter and figure out how we’re going to reach our limits,” Warner said of the failed chase. “We have to try to maintain the rotating strike and continue to find the limit in those overs in the middle.”
However, after what was his first international match in more than six months, Finch was not overly depressed despite seeing the opening match slip out of Australia’s hands.
“There were a lot of things to be positive about. If you can separate the result and look at it in the individual points, I think there are great things. Obviously it would have been ideal to get over the line, but England is a damn good side.
“You see how they got closer to their in-between too and they were pretty one-dimensional to how they did it, but it was a simple plan and they executed it, which was the most important thing. We had a couple of good shots with each other, but when you wear the colors against England it’s something different. “
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