By Fathima Zanaida
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| Alex Hales proves his worth yet again |
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNext) September 17, 2012: ICC World Twenty20 defending champions England showed exuberance in their nine-run victory over arch-rivals Australia at Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo on Monday.
The top-performers of the match were Alex Hales from England Michael Hussey from Australian as the two batsmen played central role in making the match very interesting one.
Australian skipper George Bailey won the toss and invited England to bat first to test his young bowlers in Sri Lanka conditions.
England lost Craig Kieswetter (8 from 15 – 1 four) early in the innings but Alex Hales (52 from 38 – 7 fours) – who has replaced the controversial Kevin Pietersen in the team – made his presence felt and proved his selection right with a gutsy half century at ICCWT20.
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| Mike Hussey |
Alex Hales and Luke Wright (35 from 29 – 3 fours, 1 six) added 88 runs for the second wicket from 57 balls which provided the strong England middle-order a perfect platform to launch a strong attack in the death overs of the innings.
England scored 69 runs from the final seven overs of the innings where Eoin Morgan (30 from 16 – 4 fours, 1 six) and Jamie Bairstow (18 from 10 – 4 fours) enjoyed freedom to hit out.
England finished with an impressive total of 172 for six from their 20 overs as Mitchell Starc captured two wickets for 32 runs while Brad Hogg also grabbed two wickets for 39 runs.
Australia needed a brisk start to chase down a massive target but lost David Warner (Duck) in the first over as Steven Finn got rid of the aggressive left-hand batsman.
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| Alex Hales |
However, Michael Hussey, who has been given the responsibility by the Aussie team management to use his experience to streamline batting line-up, joined forces with opening batsman Shane Watson (37 from 26 – 1 four, 3 sixes) to added 74 runs for the second wicket.
Michael Hussey continued his good work after Watson’s departure but a bad decision by his captain George Bailey to send an out-of-form Cameron White (9 from 11 – 1 four) who couldn’t as the pair could only manage 23 runs from 28 balls at a point when Aussies needed to increase the run-rate for ICCWT20.
Glenn Maxwell (18 from 13 – 1 six) then used long handle to some effect before losing his wicket to Finn but George Bailey (3 from 5) failed to provide that final punch as Australia could manage 163 runs for the loss of six wickets from their 20 overs.
In the end, England – who had defeated Australia in the ICC World Twenty20 2010 Final – maintained their advantage over their arch-rivals as they won the match by nine runs.
Michael Hussey scored 71 runs from 51 balls hitting five sixes and three boundaries but failed to help Aussies cross the line.
Steven Finn was the pick of the bowlers for England as he took two wickets for 26 runs while Graeme Swann also bowled exceptionally well to capture one wicket for only 21 runs.
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| Michael Hussey |
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