Led by Jos Buttler and Alex Hales' pyrotechnics, England beat Australia by eight runs to go 1-0 up in the 3-match T20I series.
Put into bat, England made 208-6 — after an opening partnership of 132 between Alex Hales (84) and Jos Buttler (68) — to leave Australia needing to achieve a record T20 run chase by any team against the English. Australia was on course to do it, getting to 158-3 midway through the 15th over when Marcus Stoinis (35) and Tim David (0) fell in the space of four balls from Mark Wood.
Then Wood, off the final ball of his four overs, snagged David Warner for a team-high 73 as the opener holed out to Hales in the deep. The match was in the balance but England took three wickets in the last eight balls of the chase to get home in Perth, with Australia finishing on 200-9.
Wood had 3-34 and Sam Curran 2-35. Buttler hadn't played since injuring his calf in August while Ben Stokes, who scored 9, returned to England's T20 team for the first time since July 2021. Steve Smith was among six big names missing the match for Australia. The home side also rested Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell.
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The two teams will next face each other at Manuka Oval, Canberra on October 12, Wednesday.
Australia
Playing: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Cameron Green, Matthew Wade (wk), Daniel Sams, Nathan Ellis, Kane Richardson, Mitchell Swepson
England
Playing: Jos Buttler (c & wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, Mark Wood
