Australia need middle-order solution as England look to take series

Big Picture

There was no way England should have won (or Australia lost) the opening match of the series: 39 off 36 balls with nine wickets in hand and two batsmen set is a cakewalk. Except, of course, that T20 can throw up some extraordinary finishes. That one has set this series up beautifully - England buoyed by their great escape, Australia with their tail between their legs as to how it slipped away.

Both sides will want improvement from their middle orders. England failed to build on the solid platform given by Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan, although the latter managed to nurse the innings through to a total that was just enough, and Eoin Morgan later suggested Buttler had made the pitch look easier for scoring than it was. For Australia it has the makings of a theme and the major area their T20 side needs to address. It's all well and good David Warner, Aaron Finch and to a lesser extent Steven Smith filling their boots but the middle order has to be able to finish the job when needed.

It is difficult at the moment to establish who could be the best finisher in Australia. The majority of the batsmen in this squad have their success at the top of the order; Marcus Stoinis' recall at No. 5 highlighted the issue just days after Justin Langer said he was ideally an opener.

England will know they got away with one on Friday night, but having the skill to pull games out of the fire will be priceless in the T20 World Cups. It was also significant because their bowling had been the weak link. However, the return of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood provided a cutting edge while Chris Jordan and Tom Curran showed their death-over skills to close it out.

Form guide

(last five completed matches)

England WLWWW

Australia LWLWW

In the spotlight

Jos Buttler was in sparkling touch at the start of England's innings as he scorched through the Powerplay and looked set for a big score before picking out deep midwicket. It seems that he will be given an extended run opening the batting in this format, and there is plenty of logic behind giving such a player as many overs to face as possible. However, as highlighted by Australia, those who finish a T20 innings are like gold dust. England have so many options for the top order (Jason Roy isn't even available for selection) and it may yet be a consideration that Buttler's ability in the middle - or at least as floating batsmen - is so much better than what others can provide.

It feels as though Alex Carey has been around the Australia side a long time although it's actually just over two years. In that time he's played 29 T20Is and batted in 17 of them, taking a variety of positions from opener down to No. 7. He is now anchored to a middle-order role but it's a challenge for him to learn that position. Last Australian summer he did not get a bat in six T20Is; in four innings since he's made 27, 14, 7 and 1. In the second of those knocks he was elevated to No. 4 - the position he now primarily holds for the Adelaide Strikers in the BBL having previously opened - but in his T20I career the most balls he's faced in an innings is 24. That's the lot of a middle-order player in the format, but it's a tough one to master.

Team news

You would say that England picked their first-choice XI for the opening match and unless there is a desire to rotate, or any niggles have emerged, it would seem likely that they would go with the same again. Sam Billings and Joe Denly are the spare batsmen while Sam Curran is the extra allrounder.

England (probable) 1 Jos Buttler (wk), 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Tom Banton, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Tom Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Mark Wood / Sam Curran

Clearly Australia have work to do on their middle order, but changes after one match who smack of a knee jerk reaction. However, they aren't short of extra players to choose from with a 21-man squad on tour. But to highlight the issue they face Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Wade and the uncapped Josh Philippe are all more top-order than middle-order batsmen. Given that this is Australia's first cricket for six months and the matches come thick and fast now there may be some consideration to rotating among the quicks.

Australia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Kane Richardson / Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

The same pitch will be used for the second match and Warner suggested it would be a touch drier as it is a day game. The forecast is for a dry, bright autumn day in Southampton.

Stats and Trivia

• Malan's half-century in the opening match means he now holds the highest average (51.58) of any batsman with over 500 T20I runs

• Since January 2019, Australia's batting strike-rate for positions 5-7 is the lowest among the top ten T20I nations at 111.29. They have played the fewest innings in that position (18 across 12 matches) but there have been just seven fours and eight sixes.

• During their opening stand of 98, David Warner and Aaron Finch became the ninth pair to add 1000 runs together in T20Is

Quotes

"With some of the games that are being played - there have been some phenomenal games, some phenomenal contests - why not let the whole world see it?"

Chris Jordan welcomes the return of England v Australia to live BBC TV for the first time since the 1997 Oval Test

"It was the first time I've been here [England] and not been abused. It was quite nice."

David Warner coped just fine without a crowd in the series opener