Australia won by seven wickets with over 10 overs to spare.
Australia 156 for 3 (Head 80) defeated Scotland 154 for 9 (Abbott 3-39) by seven wickets.
Travis Head produced a brutal display of hitting, scoring the most individual runs in the Powerplay and scoring a record-breaking 17-ball fifty, as Australia cruised to a seven-wicket victory in the first T20I in Edinburgh with over 10 overs to spare. After the bowlers from Scotland got off to a great start.
The home side came out of the blocks with good intent, led by George Muncy, and kept promising despite shipping wickets in an attempt to keep the early run rate high. However, Australia’s pace changes proved effective with two wickets from Adam Zampa as well as a slightly two-paced surface, losing 6 wickets for 44 runs at 101 for 3 in the 12th over.
Any thoughts that 154 could be close to competitive were put to bed in an extraordinary display of power play from Head and Mitchell Marsh as Jack Fraser-McGurk fell for a wicket on his T20I debut. At one stage there were 14 consecutive boundaries as Australia finished with their second-highest powerplay performance of 113 for 1 in T20Is, with Head himself scoring 73, beating Paul Sterling’s 67 against the West Indies in 2020.
Head’s Attack (And Some Marsh)
Given how much he has been talked about this year, it was easy to forget that Fraser-McGurk was making his T20I debut. But he couldn’t leave a mark on his first innings as he faced a somewhat unexpected look at Brendan McMullen’s medium pace with the new ball. To pull his third ball, he missteps to mid-wicket where Charlie Castle takes a brilliant catch.
But any thought of a flurry for the Aussies disappeared at the boundary pitcher. Head, who was the man of the tournament at the MLC in July, hit three fours in the first over off Brad Wheel and McMillan’s second over did no good as he cost 20. But real disaster was saved for Jack Jarvis in the fifth over. As Marsh scored 30 runs with three sixes. Scotland’s bowlers had no answer to several balls hitting the trees.
On the first ball of the sixth over, Head scored a 17-ball fifty to equal Marcus Stoinis’ record for the fastest 14-ball hit in a T20I for Australia with either a four or a six.
Munsey’s power play promise
Scotland opener George Muncy had an early tease of a boundary as he made repeated whip pulses down the leg side to ensure Australia was under some pressure with the ball in the powerplay as McMullen He also played his role.
In the fifth over, Muncy dispatched consecutive deliveries from Riley Meredith, playing his first T20I since 2021, to make it 18 with a six and another boundary. Muncy reached Scotland’s fifty in the next over, but then fell to an excellent catch from Josh Ingles who dived to his left to collect a thick outside edge.
The fade of Scotland
Scotland’s progress was further damaged when McMillan was moved to deep cover shortly after fielding restrictions ended. Captain Richie Barrington looked set to settle but his dismissal against Zampa caught at long off proved to be a turning point in the innings. From there Scotland struggled to regain any pace. Consecutive overs by Stoins and Cameron Greene went for just four as the two all-rounders’ combined four overs were worth just 22 runs.
Meredith, Xavier Bartlett and Shaun Abbott finished the innings strongly, in reply to which Jack Jarvis and Mark Watt hit just one beautiful six.
Watt’s long ball
While most of the focus in the chase was on Head, Marsh helped himself to a left-arm spinner to fall to Watt’s first delivery before making 39 off 11 balls when he was out of the fielding restrictions when perhaps They could have used earlier.
The result was inevitable by this stage, but there were some interesting moments as Australia knocked off the remaining runs with a length ball from Watt – well back from the bowling crease – twice seeing the batsmen depart too late. The first occasion was England’s opening delivery and the ball took the leg bell, then it happened again when Stoins was on strike. The umpire was correct both times, according to the wording of the law ( 20.4.2.5 ), but this could provide an opportunity to talk in the next two matches when Scotland hopes to be more competitive.
