T20 World Cup 2021: Match 26, Australia vs England – Who Said What

England dismantled Australia in their Super12 clash in Dubai on October 30 to claim the top spot in the Group 1 tally. With the victory, England have nearly confirmed their semi-final qualification, while Australia have plenty to worry about with their upcoming clashes being against West Indies and Bangladesh.

On Saturday, they were outplayed so convincingly, the mind wondered if it was the same contest many billed as the pre-cursor to the Ashes. After being put in, all Australia could manage was a paltry 125, which would have taken a miraculous effort to be defended against the kind of batting might England possesses.

On a track where moments before his Australian counterparts struggled to find any momentum, Jos Buttler unleashed his T20 beast, smoking five sixes and as many fours in an unbeaten 32-ball 71 to leave hardly anything for other big men around him. Jason Roy, with whom Buttler added 66 for the first wicket, was pinned lbw by Adam Zampa for 22, while the only other England wicket to fall on the night was Dawid Malan, who edged Ashton Agar behind for 8 before Jonny Bairstow (16 off 11) took the team home with ease.

For Australia, the day was made forgettable at the onset by the two Chris – Jordan and Woakes – who demolished their top-order in no time. Jordan sent back Steve Smith immediately after Woakes had David Warner caught behind. Woakes (2/23) and Adil Rashid (1/19) then respectively pinned Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis lbw in quick succession to leave Australia reeling at 21/4.

Aaron Finch, who scored an uncharacteristic 44 off 49, witnessed the carnage unfold. Matthew Wade and Ashton Agar hung around for a while, scoring 18 and 20 respectively at a run-a-ball before a few lusty whacks from Pat Cummins (12 off 3) and Mitchell Starc (13 off 6) dragged Australia past 120. Tymal Mills (2/45) was at the receiving end of that late charge, leaking runs at 11.25 when even the second-worst economy (Woakes) was 5.75. Jordan returned with figures of 3/17.

Losing skipper Aaron Finch:

After losing few wickets in the powerplay, we had to hang in there and get to a total we thought would be defendable. They bowled well and put us on the back foot early. You had to bowl them out with that kind of total, but Jos Buttler played a hell of an innings and put the pressure on us and it’s just one of those nights where we got off to a poor start and it kept compounding unfortunately. We’ve got a couple of days to recharge now, give the guys some much-needed rest and take on Bangladesh next.

Winning skipper Eoin Morgan:

Obviously we got off to a good start in the first two games of the tournament and challenge first is always adapting to the conditions away from home and we did that really in the first two games and then again today, the big test against a really strong Australian side. We sort of held up pretty well right from the beginning, holding our nerve and creating opportunities with the ball and then continuing to be relentless with the lengths we want to bowl. We are in good form with the bat. Jason last game and Jos today. We treat everybody with same amount of respect. We go to Sharjah from here and again another challenge there and we are really looking forward to it.

Chris Jordan, Man of the Match:

It was a great bowling effort from the boys. Woakesy set up the tone. We try to keep it as simple as possible. We try and asses the pitch quickly. We tried to hold our lengths and bowl it straight and luckily it worked today. You just try to stick to your strengths and then still add a little bit to your skills. You are never comfortable in international cricket. Everyday you want to improve as there are so many players who want to get into the team.