A final-ball
thriller saw England beat Australia to win the first Twenty20 international at
Southampton on Friday and take the lead in the three-match series.

The
visitors were making light work of the 163-run target as skipper Aaron Finch
(46) and David Warner (58) put up a 98-run stand for the opening wicket. However,
Steve Smith’s dismissal for 18 runs was followed by a catastrophic collapse for
Australia, who lost their next four batsmen for just nine runs in a space of 14
deliveries.

English paceman
Chris Jordan, who earned his 50th cap, conceded only four runs in
the penultimate over, meaning Australia, playing their first match in six
months due to the coronavirus pandemic, needed 15 runs from the final six
deliveries.

A six over
the covers and two doubles later, Marcus Stoinis needed five off Tom Curran’s
final delivery to get the tourists over the line. However, Stoinis failed to either
hit a six to win the match or a four to take the match to the super over.

“I thought
the bowlers really came good in the last eight overs,” England captain Eoin
Morgan told Sky Sports.

“We managed
to get the ball talking a bit, Adil (Rashid) taking those two important wickets
to get into that middle order and get it exposed a little bit.”

Meanwhile, Finch
lamented the fact that neither him nor David Warner saw out the victory for
Australia.

“We knew
that England were going to keep coming hard and they executed really well,” he
said.

“I’d
probably be more critical of myself and Davey, who got us off to good start and
neither of us pushed on to make a match-winning contribution.”

Finch got off
to an ideal start as he hit back-to-back boundaries off pacer Jofra Archer, who
was playing his first white ball international since bowling England’s Super
Over in the 2019 World Cup final win against New Zealand.

Finch then
hit Adil Rashid, arguably England’s best bowler in the shortest format, for 14
runs in three balls, including a towering six followed by two extra cover
drives for consecutive fours.

Finch was
finally dismissed in the 11th over, when he picked out Jordan at
mid-off after lofting Archer. Rashid picked up two wickets in five balls to
raise the hosts’ spirits, dismissing Smith before Glenn Maxwell hit him straight
to Morgan at short extra-cover.

Archer then
bowled Warner to bring two new batsmen on the pitch. Alex Carey had made just
one when he was bowled by fast bowler Mark Wood — one of three 50-over World
Cup winners recalled by England, along with Jos Buttler and Archer, following
the drawn T20 series against Pakistan.

Earlier,
Australia held England to 162-7 after Finch won the toss.

Kane
Richardson took 2-13 from three overs and part-time off-spinner Glenn Maxwell
2-14 from his three.

England
were on course for a large total while opener Buttler was making 44.

Dawid
Malan’s 66 — the left-hander’s eighth score of fifty or more in just 14 T20
international innings — was the only other contribution of note.

The
bio-secure, behind closed doors, series continues at Southampton on Sunday