Dawid Malan’s 82 off 49 deliveries in the first innings helps set up an 8 run victory for his side, which sees England go 2-0 up in the series with a game remaining.

Words by Ciaran Coyle

Malan, playing in his 50th T20 international for his country, came to the crease after 3.1 overs following Jos Buttler’s dismissal and batted through to the last over where he was finally dismissed by Mitchell Starc, to help England post a total of 178 from their 20 overs.

The Middlesex batsmen formed a crucial partnership with Moeen Ali which saw England move from 54-4 to 146-5 before Ali was dismissed by Adam Zampa for 44 off 27.

Sam Curran starred for England in the field picking up 3-25 from his four overs, including the crucial wicket of Tim David when he started to look dangerous.

Ben Stokes also stood up with the ball, bowling two overs and finishing with 1-10, taking the big wicket of Mitchell Marsh, who had amassed 45 off 29 deliveries before hauling out to Curran in the 15th over.

This victory sees England clinch a 2nd successive T20 International series win away from home following their 4-3 series win in Pakistan.

It was Australia who won the toss for the 2nd time this series and put England into bat, with captain Jos Buttler and Alex Hales looking to get their side off to a similar start they were able to build in Perth on Sunday.

The hosts were back to a full strength bowling attack, with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all brought back into the line up following defeat in the first match of the series.

The England openers struggled to pick up where they left off in the first game as they posted 21 from 3.1 overs before Cummins got the wicket of Buttler for 17.

Hales never got going and faced just 6 balls before finding David Warner at mid-off with the first delivery of Marcus Stoinis’ spell as he departed for just 4, leaving England 31-2 after 4 overs.

With Malan and Stokes at the crease, the tourists ended the powerplay on 41-2 and with work to do if they wanted to post a competitive total.

In the 8th over, Zampa claimed his first victim of the evening, with Stokes also finding it difficult to make an impression on the scorecard as he was bowled hitting across the line towards mid-wicket for 7 off 11 balls.

Harry Brook’s wicket followed soon after as he also struggled to live up to the promise he showed against Pakistan edging behind to Matthew Wade off the bowling of Stoinis for just 2 runs.

With England sitting in a precarious position at 54-4, Malan and Ali had to dig in if they were to take their side to a competitive total. The pair did just that, putting on a stand of 92 which saw England move to 146-5 before Ali was dismissed by Zampa having made 44 off 27 deliveries.

Malan Soldiered on to score 82 from 49 deliveries before falling to Stoinis who claimed his 3rd wicket of the night.

Late cameos from Curran, Willey and Jordan saw England post a total of 178-7 at the innings break.

It wasn’t clear whether David Warner would be fit to bat following a head-injury he picked up in the field when attempting to take a catch on the boundary earlier in England’s innings but Australia’s medical staff declared him fit to play as he opened with captain, Aaron Finch.

The pair found it difficult to make a fast start and only managed to put 12 runs on the board after 3 overs had been bowled.

The early pressure told as David Willey claimed his first victim, with Finch failing to clear Stokes at mid-off who took a simple catch to dismiss the opener for 13.

Warner followed soon after as he skied a delivery from Reece Topley, with Brook left to take another simple chance to see the back of the 35 year-old for just 4 off 11 deliveries.

With Marsh and Maxwell now in the middle, the home side started to attempt a counter punch in response to England’s early dominance. However it was more of the same from Australia as Maxwell also found it difficult to score falling to Curran for 8 and leaving his side 51-3 with 8 overs bowled.

Stoinis joined Marsh at the crease and the pair were able to put on a stand of 40 before Stoinis departed for 22 thanks to the bowling of Curran as the Aussie all-rounder hauled out to Brook at deep square leg.

As Tim David made his way to the crease, there was a feeling that he would need to provide a mammoth performance if his side were to chase down the total and take the series to a decider, with the home side still needing a further 88 runs to win.

His task was made even more tricky when Marsh hauled out to Curran on the mid-wicket boundary off the bowling of Stokes to leave Australia 114-5 with just 35 balls remaining to knock off the runs.

David displayed his batting prowess, putting on a 31 run partnership with Matthew Wade before departing in the 18th over for 40, with Curran bowling David round his legs to claim his 3rd wicket of the night.

Cummins and Wade struck some big blows towards the end of the match to keep the game alive until the last over but England managed to close out an 8 run victory in Canberra which sees Buttler’s side go 2-0 up in the series.

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