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England weathered some early fireworks from Travis Head to restrict Australia to 179 in their series-opening T20 against Australia.
A new dawn for the hosts threatened to get off to a false start as their fast bowlers were dispatched to all parts, with Head’s 59 off 23 deliveries underpinning a stunning powerplay total of 86 for one.
Sam Curran leaked 30 in an over but Adil Rashid put on the brakes, conceding one boundary in figures of 4-0-23-1, while Liam Livingstone took three for 22 before the pacemen nailed their yorkers at the death.
At one stage, Australia looked on course for a 250-plus total but Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood and Jofra Archer each took two wickets in two balls to stunt their charge and they were all out in 19.3 overs.
England’s underwhelming T20 World Cup led to the sacking of Matthew Mott and a reset, with Marcus Trescothick in caretaker charge before Brendon McCullum unifies the coaching roles at the start of next year.
There were three debutants in England’s XI but it was two of their most experienced players in Rashid and Livingstone who helped peg Australia back at the Utilita Bowl, where more than 1,000 solar panels were switched on for the first time in Hampshire’s bid to become the world’s greenest cricket stadium.
Matthew Short initially provided Australia’s spark with successive flicks for six off his pads off Reece Topley before Head took centre stage.
He was beaten three times in an over by Archer but dispatched the other three balls for fours and after successfully reviewing a caught behind on 15, Head got stuck into Curran, who was the MVP in The Hundred but ruthlessly exposed in his first over.
All six deliveries went to the boundary by Head, three of them for six, as Curran equalled the 30 runs in an over he conceded off West Indies captain Rovman Powell nine months ago. Only Stuart Broad, belted for six sixes by India’s Yuvraj Singh in 2007, has gone for more in a single over among Englishmen.
Mahmood also went the distance before gaining his revenge as Head went for one swing too many and holed out to Jordan Cox, making his England T20 bow alongside Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton.
Mitch Marsh came and went as Rashid knocked back the Australia captain’s off-stump, with the Yorkshireman helping to put the brakes on Australia’s juggernaut in tandem with England’s other spinners.
Unwilling to take risks against England’s veteran leg-spinner, Short went after Livingstone but top-edged to Curran to depart for 41.
It got even better for Livingstone in his next over as Marcus Stoinis and Tim David missed sweeps and trapped in front off consecutive deliveries, with both batters given out on review after unsuccessful appeals.
While Livingstone had an over left, England went back to pace and were rewarded when Curran rebounded from his battering by Head to castle Josh Inglis for 37.
Archer then splayed the stumps of Sean Abbott and Xavier Bartlett with back-to-back deliveries while Mahmood, with his first delivery since snaring Head, made it a team hat-trick by bowling Cameron Green as Australia’s innings ended with a whimper.
