On a night when Australia’s topline bowlers rested up on the other side of the country, Mark Wood showed his worth to England with a searing spell that separated the teams in what was otherwise a batters’ Twenty20 contest at Perth Stadium.
Worth 3-34 in raw figures but plenty more in raw pace and influence on a pitch where a combined 18 sixes were hit, Wood’s performance provided a reminder of some of his lionhearted displays in an otherwise miserable Ashes tour a year ago and gave England a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
England’s Jos Buttler and Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade watch the ball go for six at Optus Stadium.Credit:Getty Images
In his final over, Wood struck Matthew Wade on the bat and helmet, and then tangled with the wicketkeeper as he tried to take the catch off the rebound. Wade’s outstretched arm was widely construed as obstructing the field, but captain Jos Buttler did not sustain England’s appeal when asked by the umpires – later indicating he would have done so had it been a World Cup match.
“I was looking at the ball the whole time, so I wasn’t sure what happened, and they asked if I wanted to appeal,” Buttler said. “But I thought we’re here for a long time in Australia, so a risky one to go for so early in the trip.”
That England had as many as 208 to defend was down largely to Buttler (68, 32 balls), his new opening partner Alex Hales (84, 51 balls) and an Australian attack that, aside from the excellent Nathan Ellis, was either not quite on the mark or, in the case of Marcus Stoinis, short of bowling.
Nevertheless, it was a worthwhile exercise for the home side’s batters, in a configuration lacking only Glenn Maxwell among those first picked. Steve Smith, left out for the returns of Stoinis and Mitch Marsh, seems only to be getting further and further from contention for a place.
“The good thing is we got ourselves into a position where we should have won the game,” Finch said afterwards. “The disappointing part is we couldn’t quite finish it off.”
Having carved out a fluent 75 at the Gabba on Friday night, David Warner (73, 44 balls) was all action in the early overs to ensure Australia did not fall behind a steep asking rate.
His meeting with Wood’s sheer pace was the stuff of World Cup tournament promos, particularly the hammering of a 152km/h delivery to the point boundary at what seemed even greater speed than the bowler delivered it.
After Cam Green snicked Reece Topley early, Marsh offered a few hefty strikes before he misread Adil Rashid’s wrong’un, and Finch connected perfectly with one lofted drive, only to be run out chancing a second run the following ball.
Warner maintained his spinal role, but he was aided enormously by a proactive and focused Marcus Stoinis, perhaps enlivened by how Green and Tim David had pushed hard for spots in the team in recent weeks.
Rarely for him, Stoinis (35, 15 balls) did not waste time getting in, and with Warner vaulted Australia to a position where fewer than 10 runs an over were required from the final six of the innings.
Wood came back and, after conceding a six first ball, jammed Stoinis into a miscue. He proved too quick for David, beating him twice then coaxing a pull to deep backward square, and letting out a scream of Geordie delight.
Greater reward followed the Wade tangle when Warner picked out deep point, leaving Wood with the most influential bowling stint of the game – a strong portent of what he will be capable of in Australia during the World Cup.
Finch’s success at the coin toss meant the Australians took the preferential spot in contemporary T20 to chase a target, all the more important given that Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa were still on the east coast.
Green took the new ball and quickly found a series of overpitched deliveries being dispatched with little fuss by Buttler, back as England’s captain after missing the tour of Pakistan.
Hales was not quite as fluent initially but soon found his own stride, befitting one of the Big Bash League’s most consistent overseas attendees. Buttler and Hales hit loose balls, good ones and most anything in between with such efficiency that they had sailed to 0-132 inside 12 overs.
They frustrated Finch to the extent he got into an argument with the umpires over a DRS referral when there was also doubt about whether the purported edge – there was none – had carried through to Wade.
It was Ellis who did most to stem the flow, constructing a four-over analysis of 3-20 that included two tidy Powerplay overs and then a 19th of the innings that cost a solitary run while claiming two wickets.
Chris Woakes hammered a six so big and clean off Kane Richardson in the 20th over that he did not quite seem to believe he’d struck it that far, taking the visitors comfortably past 200 in coach Matthew Mott’s first meeting with his countrymen.
Apart from the size of the crowd – at 25,755 close to a record for an international match in Australia in October – it was also notable for a level of good humour considered unlikely when the popular West Australian Justin Langer was deposed as head coach in February.
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