Buttler smashes 6 to give England T20 series win v Australia

PTI, Sep 7, 2020, 8:28 AM IST

London: Opener Jos Buttler advanced down the wicket and smashed a huge six to give England an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the Twenty20 series with a six-wicket win over Australia on Sunday.

Buttler hit an undefeated 77 off 54 balls in the second T20 with eight fours and two sixes, including the winning, runs off Adam Zampa.

England finished on 158-4 in 18.5 overs at an empty Rose Bowl.

Top-ranked Australia chose to bat first and lost the opener, David Warner, for a duck before recovering from 3-2 in the second over to reach 157-7.

Captain Aaron Finch hit 40 runs off 33 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes, but the visitors’ total always looked within the reach of second-ranked England.

Dawid Malan scored 42 runs off 32 balls for England which still needed 18 runs off the last two overs.

England beat Australia by two runs in a thrilling first T20 on Friday that went down to the final ball. Chasing 163 to win, Australia collapsed from 124-1 after 14 overs.

Australia is playing international cricket for the first time in six months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The third and final T20 is at Southampton on Tuesday.