Australia finally had something to celebrate after recording an unlikely four-run win over England in the second Twenty20 international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. After Australia battled to 147-7 thanks to an unbeaten half-century by second-gamer Aaron Finch, England looked set to cruise to victory when they were 58-0 after six overs, with opener Ian Bell on song.
But England's quest to extend their record unbeaten T20 streak to nine matches, having defeated Australia on the last ball of Wednesday's game in Adelaide, came unstuck as their middle order failed to deliver. As was the case in Australia's lone win during the Ashes series, in the third Test at the WACA Ground, it was paceman Mitchell Johnson (3-29) who turned the match on its head.
Johnson claimed the vital wicket of Bell (39) when the right-hander dragged a ball onto his stumps in the seventh over to end an opening stand of 60. The left-hander then followed up by having Kevin Pietersen caught for one three balls later. Johnson also removed the dangerous Eoin Morgan for 14, while Shane Watson backed up his brilliant effort in Wednesday's match with a frugal 2-17 from four overs.
With 13 runs needed off the last three balls from Brett Lee, young England all-rounder Chris Woakes threatened to repeat his heroics on Wednesday when he lofted the paceman into the stands to leave seven needed from two. But Lee got the job done as Australia snapped a run of five successive losses in T20 internationals. Man of the match Finch, playing in only his second international, hit 53 not out from 33 balls in a crucial performance with the bat for the home side.
Australia side got off to a quick start and were 57-1 after six overs, but lost 4-17 as Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy wreaked havoc, the two spinners recording identical figures of 2-19 from their four overs. The two sides now meet in a seven-match one-day series and Australian captain Cameron White was hopeful the hope side finally had some momentum.
"It's going to give us some confidence hopefully," White said. England skipper Paul Collingwood said he thought his side was going to steal the win when Woakes hit his last-over six. "When Woakesy hit that six I thought we were going to pull something out of the bag," he said.
SCOREBOARD
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Australia:
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D. Warner c Pietersen b Yardy 30
S. Watson c Morgan b Woakes 17
T. Paine c Collingwood b Swann 21
D. Hussey c Woakes b Yardy 8
C. White (C) lbw Swann 0
Aaron Finch not out 53
S. Smith c Collingwood b Shahzad 13
Steve O'Keefe b Bresnan 1
M. Johnson not out 1
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Extras: (lb2, w1) 3
Total: (for seven wickets, 20 overs) 147
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Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-63, 3-72, 4-74, 5-80, 6-131, 7-138.
Bowling: Woakes 3-0-29-1 (1w), Shahzad 3-0-34-1, Bresnan 4-0-27-1, Swann 4-0-19-2, Yardy 4-0-19-2, Pietersen 2-0-17-0.
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England:
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Ian Bell b Johnson 39
S. Davies c Warner b Watson 29
K. Pietersen c White b Johnson 1
P. Collingwood c Warner b Watson 6
Eoin Morgan c Finch b Johnson 14
Luke Wright c Smith b Tait 18
Tim Bresnan not out 15
Chris Woakes not out 11
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Extras: (lb2, w6, nb2) 10
Total: (for six wickets, 20 overs) 143
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Fall of wickets: 1-60, 2-62, 3-74, 4-88, 5-111, 6-113.
Bowling: Tait 4-0-39-1 (1nb, 5w), Lee 4-0-29-0 (1nb), Watson 4-0-17-2, Johnson 4-0-29-3 (1w), Hussey 3-0-18-0, O'Keefe 1-0-9-0.
Australia won by four runs
Man of the match: Aaron Finch (AUS)
Toss: Australia
Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS) and Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
TV umpire: Simon Fry (AUS)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).
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