After Wednesday’s nail-nibbling last ball one wicket victory for England at the Adelaide Oval, here’s a few pointers on the second Twenty20 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Australia might have their Woakes cut out to avoid sixth straight Twenty20 defeat, but they are unbeaten in three matches in the format at the MCG, having seen off the non-too-shoddy triumvirate of India, South Africa, and Pakistan.
Bigboshing Australian left-hander David Warner is the leading run scorer in these matches with 113 at an average of 56.50 and a blistering strike rate of 198.24.
This has come from two innings (vs South Africa and Pakistan) and he also holds the top score of 89, which came against the pretty tidy Saffer attack of Steyn, Ntini, Kallis, Tsotsobe and Morkel (A not M).
He looked in decent nick with 30 in the first Twenty20 so he could be the most likely danger man.
Shane Watson took 4-15 and was man of the match on Wednesday, but his 59 means that he’s now been out for scores of between 50-59 an astonishing 12 times in the last 12 months. He’s rather cruelly called “Twatto” by some, but perhaps “Mark Lamarr” might be a more accurate moniker.
At Adelaide, Eoin Morgan’s typically Optrexian innings of 43 laid the foundations for England’s win and maintained his solid record against the Australians.
He now averages 35.23 in ODI/Twenty20 against the Baggy Greens and on Wednesday looked like a man keen to remind the strangely anglophobic IPL that there is a place for Englishmen, adopted or otherwise, in the shortest form of the game.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
six needed of last ball, good delivery, Aust win crowd a tick under 59,000
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
13 off 3
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
Big finish coming up in the cricket
plugger
Guest
Melbourne t20. Warner's lost it. Finch looks powerful and is a find. Smith lacks power in his batting. Okeefe probably better at the longer game. D. Hussey struggles against short ball. Tait has lost a lot of pace and is now useless. Watson good. Johnson good. White captains well. Paine looks good. Lee still has good pace.
Whiteline
Guest
Glad that Spud Smith came to the rescue....overrated!!!!!
Whiteline
Guest
Spot on James - there is actually a very good reason why he's not playing first class cricket...because he is better at baseball
jameswm
Guest
Yep - Warner's the one to watch alright - to see if he can actually hit the ball off the square - or hit it at all when it's on his legs.
Brett McKay
Guest
that is good news...
Redb
Roar Guru
Not a major issue, just flooded the bike track along side, has not got near the road (Alexander Ave) as yet. The cars were not caught near the Yarra, the Age headline is misleading,
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
Just read on Twitter that the Yarra has burst its banks, flash flooding, cars caught, not sure where exactly
MrKistic
Roar Rookie
Excellent news. Some blue sky and sunshine out my window here in Brunswick, let's hope it stays that way!
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
MCG News: rain has stopped, covers are off, game to start as scheduled
Brett McKay
Guest
Hooplah, a quick click on the author's link could have saved yourself a rash generalisation there...
Gary Russell-Sharam
Guest
I was unconvinced with Warner's first innings against the Poms, he would need to do more than he did earlier this week. I don't have any doubts that he can hit a ball if he gets on to it but he looks very awkward last match and seems to be tied up in knots by the English bowling as did other down the list. The only bloke that played to his merit was Watson
Hooplah
Guest
Let us all take a wild stab at where the author of this article comes from? New South Wales? You lot are a joke how you dominate cricket selection policies. I hope we get smashed until sense prevails.
Football Fan
Guest
David Warner has played 1 good 2020 match for australia and maybe 2 good ODIs for Australia. He's no good. But he seems able to make more of a living than most cricketers cos once he hit a few sixes during a game that was on tv.
MrKistic
Roar Rookie
Indeed. If he plays like he did in his first outing at the M.C.G. and not like he's auditioning for a Shield position we'll be happy campers in Melbourne tonight. I'd be keeping a keener eye on Finch to fire up on his home ground too. You know, if it's not still raining this heavily come 7pm :(
Brett McKay
Guest
"He looked in decent nick with 30 in the first Twenty20..." Um, you sure about that, POs??