ENG v AUS 2024, ENG vs AUS 3rd T20I Match Report, September 15, 2024

In England vs Australia – The game is abandoned

Manchester’s forecast was wrong as heavy rain from early morning forced the deciding T20I to be abandoned shortly after 4pm on a gloomy Sunday. It meant England and Australia shared the spoils after the visitors won convincingly in Southampton before England responded with a fine chase in Cardiff.

Both teams were expected to bring back their bowlers quickly for this game: Jofra Archer and Josh Hazlewood were both rested in Cardiff, and Australia are left with just 11 players to choose from with Mitchell Marsh ill. However, conditions meant that the XI never came close to forming.

For Australia, it ended a run of six T20Is that started in Scotland where they won 3-0 and Marsh was happy with the chances given to young players Jake Fraser-McGurk and Cooper Connolly who both made their debuts.

“It would have been nice to end the match today but I thought both teams played good cricket throughout and we move on to the one-day series,” he said. “We started in Scotland as a T20 team and we knew the young lads would get a chance all the time and we thought we gave the lads different roles in all the five games we had and it was really exciting.”

England captain Phil Salt was delighted with his side’s response after the opening defeat at Southampton with Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell netting the winner in the second leg.

“I’m very proud,” he said. “As a team when you lose for the first time you are always under pressure and the message to the boys was that if we are pushed we will come back hard and that is what we did with that relationship in Cardiff with Livi and Beth. I was very happy with the way we responded but we were just disappointed that we could not continue today.”

There is much to look forward to in the one-day teams for next February’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Both the teams will face different options in the next five games within 11 days.