“All credit to England in that powerplay,the way that they squeezed us,[and] kept taking wickets,which obviously when you go in with specialist batters that probably is going to leave you a little bit short at times.
“For me personally,I tried to bat out of my crease to try to take that LBW out of play,and yeah,it was just one of those nights where Davey got a decent one early,Smithy toe-ended one,and Maxy missed a pickup off his pads which you’d generally expect him to hit. That can happen in the powerplay when you’re looking to be aggressive. Yeah,just blown away though.”
Maxwell’s entry to the game to face the new ball after the early losses of Warner and Smith revealed a certain inflexibility about Australia,given his well-known strengths if coming to the middle after the Powerplay. Either of Wade or Stoinis may have come in at No. 4 instead,given their top order records,to try to set more of a platform for Maxwell.
In commentary,the former all-rounder Shane Watson was critical of what he called a lack of “intent” to put England’s bowlers under pressure,even after the loss of early wickets. It took until the 17th over for the first sixes of the innings to be struck,by Agar off Woakes.
The vice-captain Pat Cummins,left at No.8 despite a strong IPL batting record,crunched his first two balls for six before being yorked by his third,as Chris Jordan (3-17) completed an exemplary spell supporting Woakes to take out the match award.
Australia needed early wickets to have any chance,but their bowlers were swatted away with something like impunity by Jason Roy - who launched Cummins for one mighty six with something akin to a golf swing - and Buttler. Where Australia took 10 overs and four wickets to get to 41,England were there in a mere 4.2 of them and without loss.
When Buttler’s fast hands smote Mitchell Starc for consecutive sixes of his own,England had the best Powerplay of the tournament so far and were more than halfway home - not just to a commanding victory,but an almost certain place in the Cup semi-finals. The end came amid a flurry of sixes at the expense of Adam Zampa,and the only cheering was for England.
Sports news,results and expert commentary.Sign up for our Sport newsletter.