Australia vs Scotland Archives

Australia slam highest powerplay score in T20I history

EDINBURGH: Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh dismantled Scotland’s bowling attack as they helped Australia to register the highest batting powerplay score in the history of T20 Internationals (T20Is).

The former champions were set to chase a modest 155-run target as a combined bowling effort restricted Scotland to 154/9 in the allotted 20 overs at the Grange Cricket Club Ground here on Wednesday.

Opening batter George Munsey top-scored for the home side with a 16-ball 28, followed by wicketkeeper batter Matthew Cross (27), skipper Richie Berrington (23) and top-order batter Brandon McMullen (19).

For Australia, Sean Abbott picked three wickets while Xavier Bartlett and Adam Zampa bagged two each.

Australia had an unwanted start to the run chase as they lost young opener Jake Fraser-McGurk (0) on just the third delivery of the innings.

Following his departure, Marsh joined Head in the middle and the duo combined to launch an astounding counterattack with belligerent hitting.

Travis Head was the core aggressor of the historic partnership as the left-handed opener conceded just 17 balls to reach half-century, the joint quickest by an Australian batter in the format.

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The second-wicket partnership between Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh muscled Australia to 113/1 by the end of the batting powerplay, the highest score by a team in the history of T20Is.

Mark Watt gave Scotland a sigh of relief in the next over as he got rid of both Head and Marsh.

Marsh scored 39 off just 12 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes while Head remained the top-scorer for Australia with a 25-ball 80, peppered with 12 fours and five sixes.

Following their departure, wicketkeeper batter Josh Inglis alongside Marcus Stoinis anchored Australia to glory with 62 balls to spare.

Inglis remained unbeaten with a 13-ball 27 while Stoinis scored eight not out.

Mark Watt starred with the ball for Scotland, picking up key wickets of Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh and conceding just 13 runs in his two overs while the rest were decimated by the Australian batters.

Australia now lead Scotland 1-0 in the three-match T20I series with the remaining two fixtures scheduled on September 6 and 7 respectively at the same venue.

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Injury rocks Australia ahead of Scotland T20Is

Australia suffered a massive setback ahead of the T20I series against Scotland as right-arm pacer Josh Hazlewood was ruled out due to a calf strain.

Australia will tour Scotland for a three-match T20I series with matches scheduled at Grange Cricket Stadium in Edinburgh on September 4, 6 and 7 respectively.

With Josh Hazlewood out of the series with an injury, the Australian selectors named Riley Meredith in the squad.

Josh Hazlewood’s injury is considered to be a major setback for Australia as the reigning longer formats champions are gearing up for a busy white-ball calendar.

The injury, however, is considered minor but the team management opted to rest the pacer as a precautionary measure to lend him adequate time to attain complete fitness for the T20I and ODI series against England.

Riley Meredith impressed the Australian selectors with his outstanding stint for Somerset in the T20 Blast. The pacer claimed 14 wickets at an average of 22.78, thus playing a pivotal role in leading the side to the final.

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Meredith was also sensational in the One-Day Cup, the highlight of which was his 4/27 against Middlesex at Lord’s.

His last T20I appearance for Australia, however, came back in 2021 against West Indies.

Meredith will form Australia’s pace attack with Xavier Bartlett, Sean Abbott, and Nathan Ellis with all-rounders Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, and Marcus Stoinis likely to provide backup.

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa will spearhead the team’s spin department with uncapped Cooper Connolly.

Australia T20I squad for the series against Scotland: Mitchell Marsh(c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Riley Meredith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.

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Mark Wood believes Australia “will play hard and fair” against Scotland

England’s right-arm speedster Mark Wood expressed his hope that arch-rivals Australia would play “hard and fair” in their last ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 group-stage fixture against Scotland.

Australia will face Scotland in their last group-stage fixture on Sunday which could decide England’s fate in the T20 World Cup 2024 even if they manage to beat Namibia in their remaining group match.

Scotland are currently second in Group B standings with five points in three matches while England climbed to the third with three points in as many matches.

The defending champions bolstered their net run rate by decimating Oman by eight wickets and 101 balls to spare.

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Earlier, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood hinted at the possibility of exploiting England’s difficulty in the tournament in the post-match press conference.

“In this tournament, you potentially come up against England at some stage again and they’re probably one of the top few teams on their day,” stated Hazlewood.

“We’ve had some real struggles against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament, that’s in our best interest as well as probably everyone else’s I think.

“It will be interesting to see, never really been in this position before as a team I don’t think.

“Whether we have discussions or not, or we just try and play again the way we played tonight, that will be up to people, not me.”

Reacting to Hazlewood’s comments, Mark Wood insisted that Australia would not deliberately lose to Scotland.

“I’m absolutely confident Australia will play the game the hardest, that’s the Australian way, that they’ll play hard but fair and try and get the win,” said Wood.

“I think that’s part of being England and Australia, isn’t it?” said Wood.

“I think actually I saw it more as a respect thing if I’m honest that he was saying that England have done well against Australia in the recent past and thinks we’re a big threat and a big team so I have no problem with it.”

READ: Pakistan knocked out of T20 World Cup as USA-Ireland clash washed out

India push Ireland to a crushing defeat in the ICC U19 World Cup

TAROUBA: Indian bowlers wreaked havoc on Ireland’s batting line-up before the batters provided a solid start to the side as the men in blue defeated the latter by a massive margin of 174 runs in the ongoing ICC Under 19 World Cup.

Batting first, India posted a total of 307/5 in the allotted 50 overs, thanks to the combined batting effort from the side’s top order.

The openers provided a solid 164 runs stand for the first wicket as Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Harnoor Singh both batted brilliantly. Raghuvanshi scored 79, while Singh top-scored with a terrific 88. He faced 101 deliveries and smashed 12 boundaries.

Following their departure, Raj Bawa also batted magnificently; scoring 42 including two boundaries and a six.

Later, Rajvardhan Hangargekar’s onslaught powered the side to 307/5. Rajvardhan scored a quickfire 39 off just 17 deliveries, laced with one boundary and five sixes.

For Ireland, Muzamil Sherzad bagged three wickets, while Jamie Forbes and Matthew Humphreys claimed one wicket apiece.

Set to chase 308, the Irish batting line failed completely as none of their batters could make an impact with the bat. Ireland, in the end, bowled out for a skimpy 133; losing the match by 174 runs. Scott MacBeth top-scored with 32.

For India, Kaushal Tambe, Aneeshwar Gautam, and Garv Sangwana picked two wickets each, while Hangargekar, Ravi Kumar, and Vicky Ostwal struck out a batter each.

In another match of the ongoing U19 World Cup, Australia sealed a consolidating victory over Scotland, defeating the latter by seven wickets while chasing 237.

Batting first, Charlie Tear and Tomas Mackintosh scored half-centuries, but, were a touch too slow. Therefore, despite the valuable contributions, the side could only post 236/8 in the allotted overs. Both Tear and Mackintosh scored 54 each, while Oliver Davidson scored 33.

For Australia, William Salzmann and Aidan Cahill bagged two wickets each, while Isaac Higgins and Joshua Garner made one scalp each.

In response, Australia comfortably chased down the total in the 40th over with seven wickets in hand. Teague Wyllie scored an amazing unbeaten century; scoring 101 off 115 deliveries, laced with eight boundaries and two sixes. Cahill, on the other hand, was also impressive as the right-handed batter scored a terrific 72 off just 45 deliveries. He smoked seven boundaries and four sixes.

For Scotland, Davidson picked two wickets, while Charlie Peet made one scalp.

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