England beat Australia by eight runs in the second T20I to claim a series victory ahead of the World Cup, with Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran starring for the visitors.
After being put into bat by Australia, openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales both fell in the powerplay as the hosts welcomed back their frontline bowling attack of Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa.
Buttler holed out for 17 off Pat Cummins, while Hales was caught at mid-off for four off Marcus Stoinis. Ben Stokes and Harry Brook then fell for single figure scores to leave England in real trouble at 54-4.
However, Malan and Moeen combined brilliantly to put on 92 runs for the fifth wicket, with the two left-handers continuing to take the attack to Australia. Moeen ultimately fell to Zampa for an excellent 27-ball 44, while Malan made 82 to help England post a competitive total of 178-7.
They then made the perfect start with the ball as Reece Topley and David Willey removed Aaron Finch and David Warner cheaply in successive overs. Glenn Maxwell's struggles also continued as he holed out off Curran for eight, with the all-rounder falling for single-figures for the sixth successive game.
Mitchell Marsh, Stoinis and Tim David all threatened to win the game for Australia, but England were able to pick up wickets at crucial stages with Curran at the heart of the action. He got Stoinis caught at deep midwicket for 22, took an excellent catch to remove Marsh for 45 and then bowled David for 40 with a brilliant leg-stump yorker.
Here are five talking points...
Cummins vs Buttler
Having surprisingly taken the new ball instead of Starc, it seems Cummins was used specifically to target Buttler. Cummins has dismissed Buttler seven times in Test cricket, more than any other bowler, and had great success against him in this game.
In his first over, Cummins thought he had Buttler lbw only for the England captain to review the dismissal and get it overturned after ball tracking showed the delivery was only just missing leg stump after some pronounced swing.
However, Cummins did dismiss Buttler in his next over for 17 after he skied a catch to Zampa. And with one more game left in the series and England and Australia in the same World Cup group, Buttler will have plenty more opportunities to try and get the better of Cummins.
Stokes struggles
Having not played a T20I since March 2021 before this series, Stokes does not have much time to get up to speed ahead of the World Cup. The all-rounder's game would appear to be tailor-made for T20 cricket, but he has not played the format consistently for a while and is adapting to a new position he has never played for England before.
England are hopeful that by using Stokes at number four, it gives him enough time to make a real impact with the bat given he is a slow starter in T20 cricket. However, so far he has really struggled to find some fluency, scoring nine off nine in the first T20I and seven off 11 in the second.
Across those two innings, Stokes has struck just the one boundary and will need to find some form very quickly, particularly with Liam Livingstone set to return to action soon and Curran in excellent form. But Stokes is a big game player and it seems England are confident he will rise to the occasion at the World Cup.
Malan shows his class
Having come in for criticism in the past for being a slow starter himself, Malan has worked hard to improve that aspect of his game. Between 2018 and 2021, Malan's strike rate in the first 19 balls of his innings ranged between 110 and 119.
However, that has jumped to 142 this year and he showcased that improvement in this game. Despite England losing two early wickets in the powerplay, Malan still started his innings quickly, scoring 28 off his first 19 balls.
He also shared a crucial 92 run partnership with Moeen to help rescue England after they fell to 54-4 in the ninth over, finishing as top scorer with 82 off 49. In the process, Malan passed fifty in fiftieth T20I appearance and passed 3,000 international runs across all formats.
The 35-year-old is well-suited to batting in Australia and looks set to play a key role for England in the World Cup given the way he has improved his game.
Moeen crucial to England's World Cup chances
The 35-year-old is absolutely key to England's T20 side and proved that once again here, striking 44 off 27 to help them post a competitive 178-7 after losing early wickets. His partnership with Malan was crucial and he has been in excellent form with the bat so far this year.
In 17 innings, Moeen has struck 458 runs at an average of 32.71 and a strike rate of 164.15, including four half-centuries and 30 sixes. He is an excellent operator in the middle, given he is England's best hitter of spin, and he also offers more-than-useful off-spin should they need him to turn his arm over.
Moeen led the side well against Pakistan last month and, as vice-captain, has a huge role to play as a leader with Buttler behind the stumps.
Curran now a World Cup starter
Curran has made a really strong case for inclusion in England's World Cup starting XI in recent games. Previously considered as something of a bit-part player capable of making useful contributions with both bat and ball, he has been in excellent form as a frontline seamer.
In seven of his last eight T20Is, Curran has delivered his full quota and he is England's leading wicket-taker so far this winter, having impressed against Pakistan and now against Australia. He has notably been tasked with bowling the final over in both games against Australia and has delivered.
In this game, he struck a useful six at the backend of the innings before being involved in four wickets. He removed the explosive but out-of-form Maxwell for single figures, before dismissing Stoinis to break his dangerous partnership with Marsh.
Curran also took an excellent catch off Stokes to dismiss Marsh for 45 and bowled David for 40 with a brilliant leg-stump yorker. They were all crucial breakthroughs and Curran also showed great character to shut out the win in the last over after getting hit for six first ball.
The 24-year-old is surely a nailed on starter now at the World Cup, the only question England have to answer is exactly what role he will play. He has batted at number seven in recent games, but could be moved down to eight if England want to bring Liam Livingstone back into the XI. Or could he remain at seven and keep Stokes out of the side?
