After their Ashes triumph, England begin the second leg of their Australia tour with a T20 international in Adelaide - but before the action starts there is a minute's silence for the victims of the Queensland floods
Australia fast bowler Shaun Tait hands round the bucket at the Adelaide Oval during a pre-match collection to boost the flood disaster fund
Freed from the cares of Test cricket, opener Shane Watson sets off like a rocket, racing to 59 off 31 balls as Australia achieve a rate of 10 runs per over at the start of their innings
But a blistering opening stand comes to an end when Shane Watson, giving himself some room, is bowled by Sussex spinner Michael Yardy with Australia on 83 in the ninth over
Shane Watson's opening partner David Warner, enjoying a far less fluent innings, hits out as he attempts to continue the pace of scoring but in doing so is also undone by Michael Yardy, caught at cow corner for 30
That brings David Hussey and Australia captain Cameron White to the crease, but despite their efforts to keep the scoreboard ticking over England do well in the middle overs to restrict the hosts' scoring
And with Australia looking increasingly intrenched at the crease, Warwickshire debutant Chris Woakes, 21, returns to the attack to take the key wicket of Cameron White, caught at long-on by Kevin Pietersen
David Hussey follows just 11 balls later for a 27-ball 28, bowled by a beautiful Tim Bresnan yorker, to leave Australia stuttering somewhat on 133-4 with just 19 balls remaining in the innings
Aaron Finch, pictured, and Steve Smith combine, however, with some late-order hitting and smart running to give Australia a competitive - if a little shy - total of 157-4 off their allotted 20 overs
In-form opener Ian Bell then makes the most of two lives early in his innings - dropped on 0 and then 12 - to get England off to a flyer with some typically beautiful strokes, especially through the off-side
Brett Lee does strike early for Australia, the paceman marking his return to the international fold with the wicket of England wicketkeeper-opener Steve Davies for just four runs, caught at short cover
But Kevin Pietersen is in no mood to scratch around and he takes the attack to Australia from the off, maintaining England's early momentum with an 11-ball 25 before he holes out off Steve O'Keefe
And Eoin Morgan once again shows his class with the bat with a series of exquisite shots, striking five fours and a six in a 33-ball 43 that looks to have England cruising to victory
Shane Watson has other ideas, however, backing up his fabulous innings with the bat with an equally impressive effort with the ball, the all-rounder taking 4-15 off four overs to put the match right back in the balance
The last of Shane Watson's wickets, Graeme Swann bowled in the last over, leaves England needing four off five balls but with just one wicket remaining and the pair of Chris Woakes and Amjad Shahzad at the crease
Chris Woakes, though, belies his inexperience to show impressive calm and see England home with a single off the final ball for a crucial 15-ball innings of 19 to make it eight T20 wins on the spin for Paul Collingwood's side
~RS~a~RS~International~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~27~RS~){kind=small}
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~27~RS~)
E-mail this to a friend
Bookmark with:
What are these?