Afternoon everyone and welcome to a T20 series between England and Australia that has already given us a cliffhanger. The first game was shaping as a piece of cake for the Aussies, only to end up leaving egg on their faces. The result was the one that has featured in their nightmares for 15 years: England won by two runs. These are the mini-Ashes, and they could do with a name of their own. My suggestion would be the Thrashes.
It was a curious contest that unfolded on Friday. What do you call a cricket team with a beginning and an end, but no middle? Australia. Or, indeed, England.
Only the top order, on both sides, turned up. For England, the top three made 118 runs off 79 balls, while the next six scraped 36 off 41. For Australia, the top three made 122 off 90, and the other five managed 29 off 30. Both teams were like Gü puddings – when the heat was on, they melted in the middle.
The difference between them lay not in the travails of the Aussie middle order, who were marginally less bad than their opposite numbers. It was more to do with the scoring rates of the two batsmen on each side who did well. Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan motored along at a personal rate of nine runs an over, making 110 between them off 72 balls, while David Warner and Aaron Finch could only manage eight (104 off 79). Asked whether Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell had blown it by holing out to Adil Rashid, Finch said no. “I’d probably be more critical of myself and Davey, who got us off to a good start and neither of us really kicked on to have a match-winning contribution.”
Both sides have a simple solution to their soft underbellies. England could move Buttler, their best finisher, back down to No.5 and allow Tom Banton to resume the role that suits him as Jason Roy’s understudy. Australia could bring in Marnus Labuschagne, whose love affair with England continued when he made a hundred off 51 balls in the intra-squad warm-ups.
Of the two, a call-up for Labuschagne seems the more plausible. Eoin Morgan likes giving Buttler the chance to bat right through, even though he tends not to (he averages 42 as a T20i opener, but has never stayed in for 50 balls) and he and Jonny Bairstow seldom look comfortable together. England seem more likely to tinker with their tail, which was alarmingly long on Friday with Tom Curran at No.7. They may be wondering why on earth they left out David Willey, who would solve two pressing problems with his lower-order biffing and habit of taking wickets in the Powerplay.
The series could do with an Australian victory to tee up a decider on Tuesday. After Friday’s near-tie, fairness, too, would demand that – and we Britons are great believers in fair play, aren’t we? But there are three big incentives for England to win. They can seal the series, after failing to do so last week against Pakistan. They can go top of the T20i Rankings, knocking the Aussies off their perch. And then, more viscerally, they can beat the Old Enemy. This is Australia’s seventh visit to these shores in nine summers, and could be the fourth to end without a single win.
Play starts at 2.15pm and the forecast for Southampton is pretty good, with just a 10pc chance of a shower. For the second Sunday afternoon running, anyone in Britain can watch on BBC television. It’s like the John Player League all over again.
See you just after 1.45 for the toss and the teams. In the meantime, do join Tanya Aldred as she covers the county scene, including the first gig on Ian Bell’s farewell tour.