Aussies halt England’s record run in a thriller

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10 April 2012

England's hopes of extending their world record run to nine succesive Twenty20 victories were extinguished as Australia rose from the Ashes to record a four-run victory.

Chasing 148 under the MCG lights, England failed to pull off a repeat performance of their last-ball heroics in Adelaide after leaving themselves with too much to do in the final few overs.

Mitchell Johnson took three for 29 as the home bowlers sucked the life out of England's middle order, with Shaun Tait and Shane Watson also inflicting damage on the tourists.

England made a confident start to their chase, with Ian Bell hitting 11 off the opening over.

Tait conceded 20 runs off his opening two overs as England raced to 50 without loss off the opening six overs.

Johnson halted the onslaught, clean bowling Bell for 39 and bringing Kevin Pietersen to the crease with a chorus of boos. And, despite the batsman's bid to raise thousands of pounds for the Aussie flood victims, those jeers turned to cheers as Pietersen fell to just the second ball of his innings, picking out Australia captain Cameron White at cover to hand Johnson a second wicket.

Captain Paul Collingwood scratched around at the crease for 10 balls before being caught straight down the ground by David Warner off Watson.

After hitting a stunning 43 at Adelaide, Eoin Morgan came in and took the attack to Australia but, having lost Steven Davies on 29 and Luke Wright (18), tried one big shot too many and was caught on the boundary for only 14.

With 18 needed off the final over, Tim Bresnan and Chris Woakes faced a mighty task but after the latter smashed a stunning six off Brett Lee, England needed six off the final ball of the match for victory.

But Bresnan failed to find the boundary as Australia recorded a rare victory and a potential morale boost ahead of Sunday's opening one-day game.

Australia had started in determined mood with Watson and Warner eager to take advantage of the batting powerplay. The duo put on 37 for the opening wicket before Watson picked out Morgan in the deep to provide Woakes with his first victim of the evening.

Having raced to 50 off just 31 deliveries, Australia soon began to falter under the pressure being exerted by Graeme Swann and Mike Yardy.

Warner, who had already won a reprieve after being dropped by Bresnan on one, set about England with an array of boundaries.

Tim Paine tried to do the same but soon ran out of luck, picking out Collingwood off Swann to leave Australia on 62 for two. That wicket gave England the breakthrough they craved, with both spinners able to put the squeeze on as the runs dried up.

With frustration beginning to grow, Warner lashed out at Yardy, the ball sailing straight down the ground to Pietersen.

At 72 for three off the first 10 overs, Australia appeared to have built a platform to go on and build a challenging target. Yet, just as the hosts looked set to launch an assault, Swann struck with devastating force to change the whole complexion of the contest.

White was dismissed lbw for a duck before David Hussey followed for eight to leave the hosts struggling on 80 for five.

It was left to Aaron Finch to pull Australia up to some level of respectability as he hit his maiden Twenty20 half-century as the hosts finished on 147 for seven.

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Aussies halt England’s record run in a thriller

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