England charge back after early Australian fireworks

England weathered some early fireworks from Travis Head to restrict Australia to 179 in their series-opening T20 against Australia.

- DAVID CHARLESWORTH

A new dawn for the hosts threatened to get off to a false start as their fast bowlers were dispatched to all parts, with Head’s 59 off 23 deliveries underpinning a stunning powerplay total of 86 for one. Sam Curran leaked 30 in an over but Adil Rashid put on the brakes, conceding one boundary in figures of 4-0-23-1, while Liam Livingstone took three for 22 before the pacemen nailed their yorkers at the death.

At one stage, Australia looked on course for a 250-plus total but Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood and Jofra Archer each took two wickets in two balls to stunt their charge and they were all out in 19.3 overs. England’s underwhelming T20 World Cup led to the sacking of Matthew Mott and a reset, with Marcus Trescothick in caretaker charge before Brendon McCullum unifies the coaching roles at the start of next year.