Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Bailey and White absolutely demolished England’s bowling attack
Australia’s batting duo of George Bailey and Cameron White both hammered half-centuries to crush England by eight wickets in the second Twenty20 International in Melbourne.
Bailey and White were well supported by pace bowler Josh Hazlewood, who took four wickets, to help Australia take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
England captain Stuart Broad would have been regretting his decision to bat first as opening batsman Michael Lumb was caught by Nathan Coulter-Nile at mid-on off the bowling of Hazlewood for 18.
Luke Wright failed to trouble the scorers as he was brilliantly caught by Brad Hodge off the bowling of Mitchell Starc for a duck.
Alex Hales made 16 runs before he was caught by Starc at third man off the bowling of Hazlewood.
Eoin Morgan only made six runs before he was run out by the 39-year-old Hodge.
Joe Root managed to score 18 runs before he was run out by Glenn Maxwell.
Ravi Bopara only scored six runs before he was caught by Maxwell at deep midwicket off the bowling of James Muirhead.
Wicketkeeper Jos Buttler cracked 22 runs off 27 balls, which included two boundaries, before he was given out lbw off the bowling of Coulter-Nile.
Tim Bresnan gave England some hope towards the end of their innings with 18 runs off 19 balls, which included one boundary before he was clean bowled by Hazlewood.
Hazlewood struck again the very next ball when he cleaned up James Tredwell for a golden duck.
Broad remained undefeated on 18 off 15 deliveries, which included one boundary, as England ended up scoring 130 off their 20 overs.
Hazlewood was the pick of the Australian bowlers with four wickets, while Coulter-Nile, Starc and Muirhead all chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing a relatively straightforward target of 131 to win, Australia got off to a solid start as their opening pair of Aaron Finch and White put together a 48-run partnership before Finch was given out lbw off the bowling of Bresnan for 10.
Maxwell only scored two runs before he was caught by Bresnan at deep backward square off the bowling of Tredwell.
However, from that point on, it was all Australia as White and captain Bailey amassed an unbeaten 78-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries, to lead Australia to a eight-wicket win.
White finished on 57 off 45 balls, which included nine boundaries, while Bailey remained undefeated on 60 off 28 deliveries, which included seven boundaries and three sixes.
Bresnan and Tredwell picked up one wicket each.
Broad admitted that England were completely “outplayed” by Australia, and said: “Give credit to Australia, they outplayed us. Maybe the wicket just stuck in a little today and we couldn’t get going. We’ve done some great things with the bat but it’s not clicked in these two games. But it’s not just the batting, we didn’t bowl well today. I imagine conditions in Sydney will be slightly different to Chittagong but we’ve have to get some momentum from somewhere.”
Bailey was over the moon at having secured an unassailable 2-0 lead heading into the final Twenty20 International, and said: “Another great performance with the ball set the game up. We thought it would be a bit of a surprise for the English [to open with Hodge]. He had to make do with a catch and a run out. We’ve really been put through our paces in the field and in all formats it’s crucial.
“James Muirhead bowled absolutely beautifully, he came in with confidence and did really well tonight.”
Hazlewood was named Man of the Match for picking up four wickets.
“Yeah, it’s nice to have an opportunity with the Test team away and to make the most of it,” he said. “It’s been a great summer and to be a part of it at the end is brilliant.”