Australia defeated England by 28 runs in the first T20I of the series. Bowling first, the hosts allowed 179 runs in the first innings and in return, their batsmen suffered big time, ending in a defeat. Liam Livingstone seemed to carry the boat for long minutes before Josh Hazlewood got the better of him. Meanwhile, Sam Curran batting at number six has caused quite some stir. The all-rounder has done a terrific job in the past while batting at numbers from three to five but oddly, he was assigned the position of a finisher versus Australia.
Curran averaged 40 batting between No 3 and No 5 in the Hundred 2024. He was also named the MVP of the tournament but in the new role, he made 18 runs off 15 deliveries as Sean Abbott sent him back to the pavilion in the 13th over of the game. Meanwhile, following the defeat, stand-in skipper Phil Salt supported Curran’s batting order and remarked that England lacked partnerships and real depth, which led to the defeat.
“They ended on a score which we felt was very chaseable here. But we kept losing wickets at difficult times. We were lacking relationships with real depths to get us over the line,” Salt was quoted as saying by The Standard.
“You’re not happy with how things play out when you don’t get over the line. I feel that Sam’s got all the tools to be a world-class all-rounder — and he is one currently. There’s all sorts of pathways you can go down when you don’t get over the line, but we’re really delighted with the team we’ve got,” the 28-year-old added.
Head is challenging to bowl against since he isn’t very conventional: Phil Salt
59 runs off just 23 balls were scored by Travis Head in Southampton’s first Twenty20 international. The opener started slowly but reached 30 runs in Curran’s over, which gave Australia the momentum to set a massive total on board. Speaking about Head, Salt said that the Australia international is challenging to bowl against because of his unconventional style.
Also Read: Travis Head after his impressive performance in the1st England T20I, “Nice start, nice to get away quickly”
He’s had an amazing two years. Shutting down someone who is performing so well is part of the job. It’s challenging to bowl at him since he’s not particularly traditional, according to Salt.
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