Australia confirmed their place in the final of the Trans-Tasman T20I Tri-Series at the earliest possible opportunity, cruising to a seven-wicket victory over England at the MCG with 33 balls to spare.
An excellent display from the hosts’ seamers – with Kane Richardson taking 3-33 and Billy Stanlake 2-28 – restricted England to 137-7 and it never looked like being enough against an in-form Australian batting unit. So it proved, with Glenn Maxwell (39 from 26 balls) starring once again, opener D’Arcy Short easing to an unbeaten 36 from 33 deliveries and Aaron Finch (20* from 5) hitting consecutive sixes to wrap up a comprehensive victory.
The day started badly and got worse for the tourists, with Eoin Morgan ruled out due to a groin strain suffered in training on Friday and Jos Buttler deputising as captain.
David Warner won the toss and put England in, and he was duly rewarded as Alex Hales, Jason Roy and Dawid Malan were back in the hutch inside four overs. Stanlake and Richardson bowled with good pace and aggression, picking up Hales and Roy respectively, and a superb piece of fielding by Warner – collecting the ball at mid-off and throwing down the stumps – accounted for Malan.
The Trans-Tasman Tri-Series now heads to New Zealand, with England meeting the Black Caps in Wellington on Tuesday.
