Australia thrash England in T20 clash

Melbourne, Feb 10 - Australia rode on a strong all-round performance to outclass England by seven wickets in their Twenty20 International (T20I) here on Saturday.

Opting to bowl on winning the toss, the Australians restricted England to 137/7. Kane Richardson was the most successful among the Australian bowlers with figures of 3/33 in his four overs while fellow pacer Billy Stanlake returned 2/28. Medium-pacer Andrew Tye also bagged a wicket.

Jos Buttler was the highest scorer for England with 46 runs off 49 balls. England were off to a poor start, losing their top three batsmen within the first four overs. 

Buttler and James Vince tried to stem the rot with a 36-run stand over the next six overs before the latter was bowled by a full length slower delivery from Tye. Vince produced a run-a-ball 21 with two hits to the fence.

Buttler was involved in another crucial partnership, this time with Sam Billings as the duo added 43 runs between them in 41 deliveries. But Stanlake brought the partnership to an end when David Warner latched on to a miscued shot by Billings at mid-off.

Kane Richardson then dismissed David Willey and Buttler in the last over as the Englaish innings ended with a wimper.

The hosts were then boosted by strong batting by Glenn Maxwell, D Arcy Short and Chris Lynn as they overhauled the target in 14.3 overs.

Maxwell was th highest scorer for AUstralia with 39 runs off 26 deliveries which included three boundaries and two sixes. Short and Lynn scored 36 and 31 respectively. 

Aaron Finch came lower down the order and remained unbeaten with a whirlwind 20 runs off just five balls as Australia romped home in style.

Brief Scores

England: 137/7 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 46; Kane Richardson 3/33) vs Australia: 138/3 in 14.3 overs (Glenn Maxwell 39, D Arcy Short 36, Chris Lynn 31).

IANS