T20 World Cup: Talking points from Australia's hammering at hands of England

30-10-2021
5 min read

Australia have been consigned to their first World Cup defeat at the hands of an England performance that has put the whole tournament on notice.

After Chris Woakes did the damage with the ball, Jos Butler finished the job off with an unbeaten 71 off 38 balls that helped steer England to the target of 126 in just 11.4 overs.

The eight-wicket win against their Ashes rivals marks a major statement to the rest of the competition and solidified them as favourites for the title, while for Australia it proved the ultimate reality check after comfortable wins over Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Here are the key takeaways from the match.

TOP ORDER, SELECTIONS MISFIRE AGAIN

After somewhat putting the criticism and doubts to rest with a dominant win over Sri Lanka, Australia's batting woes resurfaced against England.

Justin Langer could now be ruing a decision to drop No. 3 Mitch Marsh, arguably Australia's form batter, from the side in place of Ashton Agar in favour of a bowling-heavy side.

While Aaron Finch can hold his head high with a high-score of 44, nonetheless off 49 balls, the rest of the top order sunk, mostly during a costly power play over from Chris Woakes.

Woakes removed David Warner (1), Glenn Maxwell (1), Steve Smith (6) all for single digits, and from there the result was as good as gone, with Australia in a deep hole at 4-21 to start the match off.

Shortly after, Marcus Stoinis fell for nought before the tail managed to somewhat get Australia's run tally off the ground.

In hindsight, the non-selection of Marsh, who was in tremendous form leading into the tournament, proved costly as England ripped through Australia's most dangerous hitters with ease.

Shane Warne was one to question the tactic, suggesting it should be Steve Smith that makes way.

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MAXWELL LOST IN POWER PLAY

Another confusing strategic decision was the one to send out Glenn Maxwell during the power play when Australia needed to steady the ship more than anything.

After Woakes dismissed Warner and Smith, getting plenty of movement early, Maxwell was sent into the fray and was immediately found out.

Of all people, Maxwell is arguably the most capable in Australia's lineup to change the momentum of a game, which is what was desperately needed.

But rather than hold him back until after the power play, and perhaps push Matthew Wade to No. 4, Maxwell was sent in and immediately found out by Woakes.

It was a decision that proved costly in hindsight, although equally Maxwell could've done more and has found run-scoring hard this tournament.

ENGLAND'S PERFECTLY BALANCED SIDE

Key to England's dominance this World Cup has been the threat on both sides of their lineup.

And this performance against Australia was equally balanced with the bat and ball.

The likes of Woakes (2-23) and Chris Jordan, who took remarkable man-of-the-match figures of 3-17, tore Australia's batters to shreds to restrict them to a slender total of 125.

Then England's openers Jos Butler and Jason Roy effectively did the rest, combining for an opening stand of 66 in just six over, Butler doing the most damage with a resounding 71 off just 32 balls.

Within just 11 overs of England's innings, the game was over just like that. It was as tidy T20 performances as you'll see.