Buttler, Woakes star as England pulverise Aussies

Australia have suffered a bruising first defeat at the T20 World Cup as a Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler-inspired England made a statement by pulverising their Ashes rivals in an astonishing eight-wicket triumph on Saturday evening (Sunday morning AEDT) in Dubai. 

Woakes effectively decided the match inside the first Powerplay by removing his opponents' three most damaging batters all for single digits – David Warner (1) and Glenn Maxwell (1) with textbook seam bowling, Steve Smith (6) with a stunning one-handed catch – in a mad early scramble that saw the Aussies sink to 4-21.

They recovered to reach 125 but Buttler then slammed 71 off just 32 balls in an exhilarating onslaught that saw England reach victory in remarkably fast time (from just 11.4 overs) to all but secure their place in the semi-finals.

Image Id: EDD1DDD4C0FF452F8697D091B69D8A72 Image Caption: Jos Buttler slammed five sixes in an extraordinary innings // Getty

The defeat is a major blow to Australia's net run-rate, which now stands at -0.63, and means even victories in their remaining games against Bangladesh (on Thursday) and West Indies (on Saturday) do not necessarily guarantee qualification for the next stage.

For that to happen however South Africa (who earlier on Sunday evening pulled off a thrilling win over Sri Lanka) would need to topple England next weekend, and on current form that looks improbable.

Fresh off comprehensive wins over West Indies and Bangladesh to begin the tournament, this was the surest sign yet that England (along with Pakistan in the other group) are the tournament's team to beat.

Australia's top-order wobble came after they had dropped No.3 Mitch Marsh, the side's form T20 batter in the lead-in to the tournament, for Ashton Agar to revert to the five-specialist bowler template preferred by coach Justin Langer.

After Woakes' new-ball brilliance that saw him snare 2-7 from three Powerplay overs, player-of-the-match Chris Jordan (3-17 off four) proved equally effective as a labouring knock from skipper Aaron Finch (44 off 49) and some late blows from the tail ensured the Aussies at least had something to bowl to.

Image Id: 8588968E92014D3E897B4B799C84E925 Image Caption: Chris Woakes took two wickets and a terrific catch in the Powerplay // Getty

But it never looked close to being enough, and England confirmed as much by knocking off half the total before Australia's best bowler this tournament – Adam Zampa – had been thrown the ball after the Powerplay.

Buttler's extraordinary skill against high-pace bowling was on full show, blasting Mitchell Starc for back-to-back sixes as he smashed 28 off the 12 balls he faced from Australia's spearhead.

The other Aussie bowlers fared little better; Pat Cummins and Ashton Agar's first overs went for 14 and 10 respectively, and by the time Zampa was introduced – promptly dismissing Roy for 22 on an lbw review – the damage had been done and Buttler was on an incredible rampage.

The right-hander then went after Zampa with the ruthlessness of an assassin, bringing up the joint fastest fifty of the tournament (25 balls) with a monster 102-metre straight six off the leg-spinner.

Jonny Bairstow, in after Agar got the consolation wicket of Dawid Malan, joined the party by smashing two sixes of his own off Zampa as he hit the winning runs with 50 balls to spare.

Image Id: FF27B26600BB48A38F69DE08C701E3B9 Image Caption: Buttler and Eoin Morgan celebrate the England win // Getty

From the moment he won the toss and inserted his opposition – which has been a sure-fire method for success so far this tournament – Eoin Morgan's every move paid off.

The sight of leg-spinner Adil Rashid (1-19 off four overs) standing at the top of his mark to bowl the first over was a surprise. So too was Morgan's (ultimately vindicated) decision to not bowl allrounder Moeen Ali, likely due to Finch's strength against off-spin.

More predictable was the hot form of Woakes, who reeled in a terrific catch to see Jordan's rank first-ball half-tracker dismiss Smith during the early chaos.

Either side of that, Warner walked at his first ball from Woakes and edged behind while Maxwell, sent into bat after the dismissal of Smith in the third over despite rarely coming into bat during the Powerplay in recent times, was plumb lbw to the English swing king.

When Marcus Stoinis (duck) was out for the eighth time to Rashid in international cricket, lbw to a googly in an eerily similar dismissal to his exit to the same bowler during the 2019 ODI World Cup, the Aussies were in all sorts.

Image Id: FECDA02BDF494B00ACE2D10F6F531C62 Image Caption: Liam Livingstone played an unlikely role with the ball // Getty

Morgan pulled another shrewd move by bowling Liam Livingstone his full quota for a return of 1-15. The talented part-time leg-spinner seamlessly switched to off-breaks when bowling to the left-handed Wade and was overjoyed when he had him caught on the long-on boundary.

Tight bowling, a constant flow of wickets, sharp captaincy and even sharper fielding meant Finch could never get going and only found the boundary four times before Jordan had him caught at long-off.

"When he's at his best he hits that into the top tier," Finch's former teammate Shane Watson noted on commentary.

Agar turned Woakes' previously impeccable figures to merely very good ones (2-23 off four) and gave his side some hope by helping take the right-armer for 16 off his final over, before Cummins slammed his first two balls for six in a late dash.

2021 Men's T20 World Cup

Australia's squad

Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams

Oct 23: Australia beat South Africa by five wickets

Oct 28: Australia beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets

Oct 30: England defeated Australia by eight wickets)

Nov 4 v Bangladesh in Dubai (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

Nov 6 v West Indies in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports.

Click here for the full 2021 ICC T20 World Cup schedule

Click here for the full squads for all 16 teams

Super 12 stage

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia