Head lets rip to fire Australia to easy T20 win over England
Cricket
Head banged four sixes and eight fours in an explosive innings of 59 off 23 balls.
SOUTHAMPTON (Reuters) - Australia's Travis Head struck a remarkable 19-ball half-century including 30 off one over as his side beat England by 28 runs in the first match of their T20 series in Southampton on Wednesday.
Head banged four sixes and eight fours in an explosive innings of 59 as Australia reached 86-0 in 5.5 overs.
Opener Matthew Short also struck two sixes in his knock of 41 but Australia, having reached the halfway point on 118-2, were pegged back by England's spinners to end on 179 all out.
Having gained the momentum after taking 10 Australian wickets for 93, England were unable to carry it into their innings and were never really in the hunt.
England, featuring T20 debutants Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton and captained by Phil Salt in the absence of injured Jos Buttler, slumped to 52-4 as wickets fell at regular intervals on a chilly evening.
Sean Abbott took three wickets and Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa two apiece as England were all out for 151.
Head took a couple of overs to get his eye in but then let rip in spectacular fashion as Australia cashed in during the powerplay to leave England reeling.
Sam Curran came in for some fearsome punishment in the fifth over as Head began with successive fours before thumping a hat-trick of sixes and finishing it by carving another boundary.
Head was eventually out, top-edging Saqib Mahmood to the deep square leg boundary where Cox pouched the catch.
"I was trying to acclimatise to a wicket with pace, hitting good shots and Shorty got a cracking start," Head said. "A bit of a luck, but I've worked hard to play with a freer mindset."
Following Head's dismissal, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh was bowled by Adil Rashid for two but with Short also in attack mode, Australia looked poised for a huge score.
Short departed in the 11th over though, top-edging a slog sweep off the bowling of Liam Livingstone with Curran taking a well-judged catch, and the wheels began to fall off.
