AUS vs ENG 2nd T20I: With the T20 World Cup just 4 days away, the Australian team has faced a major setback at the hands of arch-rivals England. Aaron Finch and his men are the defending champions for this year's World Cup and this loss will certainly hurt them. This is Australia's first T20I series loss at home after their victorious campaign in the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. England on the other hand were pretty clinical as far as their bowling is concerned.
The Aussies won the toss and decided to bowl first. With the hopes of a series victory, just before the World Cup, skipper Jos Buttler and his compatriot Alex Hales opened the proceedings for England. Both Hales and Buttler looked timid as they were hunted down by Cummins and Stoinis. Australia were pretty dominant with the ball and they had reduced England to 54/4 by the 9th over. Dawid Malan, who recently missed out on the ECB central contract continued to toil hard on the other end and scored a sublime 82 off 49 deliveries. The likes of Stokes and Harry Brooks too couldn't make any kind of notable contribution to England's cause. Malan found some support in Moeen Ali who scored 44 off 27 deliveries and propelled England's score to 178/7.
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When the Aussies came out to bat, they were pretty wary of the kind of bowling they were up against. Reece Topley sent David Warner packing. On the other hand, Willey too dismissed Finch who is struggling to find some form. Aussie all-rounder Mitchell Marsh tried to steady Australia's ship as he scored 45 off 29 deliveries. With a strike rate of 155.17, Marsh hit 3 fours and 2 sixes. Glenn Maxwell's woes with the bat continued and Stoinis too couldn't race past 22 off 13 deliveries. Singapore-based batsman Tim David tried to bring some respite to Australia's lost cause but he did not get any help from Matthew Wade on the other end who continues to remain in the form of his life.
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After this loss, Australia will have plenty of soul searching to do as they are in with a golden chance of defending their title on home soil.
