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| Third international Twenty20, Ageas Bowl |
| England 145-6 (20 overs): Bairstow 55 (44), Zampa 2-34 |
| Australia 146-5 (19.3 above): M Marsh 39 * (36), Finch 39 (26), Rashid 3-21 |
| Australia won by five wickets, England won the series 2-1 |
| Scorekeeper |
Australia edged out a sloppy England with three balls to spare to claim a consolation victory in the final game of the Twenty20 series at the Ageas Bowl.
Chasing 146, the tourists needed 60 of 60 balls with eight wickets in hand, only to provoke a repeat of their capitulation in the first game of the series.
They lost three wickets for 14 races, all to the excellent Adil Rashid, before Mitchell Marsh regained his cool with 39 no out to give Australia a five wicket victory.
England did themselves no favors by dropping three catches and making numerous mistakes on the field, whereas previously a batting lineup missing Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan was restricted to 145-6 by some relentless bowling from Australia.
Jonny Bairstow had 55 on 44 balls and reserve captain Moeen Ali and Joe Denly made cameos, but England were never fluid against an attack led by Mitchell Starc.
England win the series 2-1, although they missed the opportunity to replace Australia at the top of the International Cricket Council Rankings and record their first 3-0 shutout in a T20 series at home.
This match was the last biosecurity closed-door match to be played in Southampton this summer, and these teams will now move to Emirates Old Trafford for three one-day internationals, the first of which is on Friday.
Second best England second row
England’s usually powerful hitting didn’t just lose the injured Morgan rested butler but also Jason Roy and Ben Stokes, not to mention ostracized Alex Hales.
Without them, the hosts were never launched on a surface being used for the third time. This was England’s slowest start in an inning since the T20 World Cup in 2016.
That was mainly due to Starc’s length control, bowling over 90 mph, and teammate Josh Hazlewood, who was removed from the game. His bowling partner Kane Richardson and spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar made sure there was no weak link in Australia’s attack.
Chopping and chopping, Bairstow was just nine of 16 balls, but when he found the groove, he scored 44 of his next 25, including three sixes from the spinners.
However, the bowler held up an upper edge well in front of Hagar, who ran to the edge of the 30-yard circle to catch the ball in the middle of the wicket.
Moeen, the 93rd man to captain England in any form of cricket, hit a straight six with Zampa before taking the same pitcher into the middle of the deep wicket, where Steve Smith caught a wonderful limit catch that required him to throw the ball. and hold it again after your heel has been millimeters from the rope.
Denly got ahead and three fours ahead of Richardson, but that was the closest England got to late acceleration.
Australia goes through another wobble
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australia had not played any cricket prior to this series since March and it was shown in the first two matches. They surrendered to the first from a winning position and weakened at the end of the second.
They were excellent for most of this match, particularly at bowling and receiving, but again threatened to throw him away after a quick start to their chase.
Matthew Wade, Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis had Australia in control, Finch benefited from England’s first and worst knockdown, when goalkeeper Bairstow failed to get a glove on a skied upper edge from Rashid.
However, leg spinner Rashid was still able to unsettle tourists, first having Glenn Maxwell do a reverse sweep to the third short man, then launching Finch with a magic ball and finally persuading Smith to present a tame return catch. .
Marsh, playing for the first time in the series, was the beneficiary of the other two knockdowns, out of bounds for Denly and Rashid respectively. Both were shot down by Dawid Malan on the slide, a more difficult one due to a detour from Bairstow.
Amid mounting tension, the equation moved to 34 out of 30 deliveries before Marsh hit a six and a four from Mark Wood to put Australia back in charge.
With Agar providing capable support, Australia ultimately needed only one single in the final, which Marsh topped from Chris Jordan’s third installment.
‘Fielding cost us the game’ – what they said
England Captain Moeen Ali on BBC Test Match Special: “We were short with the bat. We shot quite well, but we played badly and that cost us the game.”
“You can’t afford to lose three catches and the field errors. If we had taken our chances, I’m pretty sure we would have won the game.
“When three or four main players are missing, world-class players, it makes a big difference. I learned a lot.
“He (Adil Rashid) is an amazing bowler. He’s our wizard. He can win your games when you don’t score a lot of runs. He was amazing tonight.”
Australia Captain Aaron Finch at TMS: “We made a conscious effort to be more aggressive in the power play. We knew the spinners would have an impact. It was a plan that paid off.
“We similarly chased Friday with a wobble, but the way Mitchell Marsh and Ashton Agar finished was brilliant.”
Phil Tufnell, former England player: “England are in very good shape for the T20 World Cup. England have every chance of winning it. The white ball game is very optimistic.”
