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Things are getting better. The referees want to watch them, in bright pink raincoats.
It’s pouring now. Aussie weather huh.
The rain stops playing!
Two spin balls from Adam Zampa, two more runs to Buttler, and then the rain comes and the umps take the players out. This brings a great weather forecast from our friends at Cricinfo. “Radar suggests a passing shower,” they calculate, “but it may be reasonably heavy.”
Updated at 09.53 BST
6th over: England 47-1 (Buttler 23, Malan 17) Cummins, replacing Hazlewood, starts with a length ball, so Buttler plays that chip again, four more. “Best shot in the game so far,” says another such Aussie commentator. Buttler adds a run for two and the powerplay ends with almost even honours: Australia asserting themselves early on, England rebuilding smoothly.
Updated at 10.11 BST
5th over: England 38-1 (Buttler 15, Malan 16) Starc returns, to be hit for four over Buttler’s cover, before keeping Malan tied. A short ball causes a wrong pull, but it sinks safely into mid on. The crowd is wearing puffy jackets and hats, but the evening sky is gorgeous: solid midnight blue in one camera, tinged with lilac in the other.
4th over: England 30-1 (Buttler 10, Malan 14) England take the liberty against Hazlewood for the first time as Buttler goes for four. Malan pulls again and gets hold of it this time – the firm whiff of a back-foot player in top form.
“This game is far from a ‘dead rubber’,” says Andrew Benton. “Whoever wins will mark their intention for the World Cup. England have to show they can build on the success, Australia that they can fight for victory. Whoever loses better go home before the Cup starts. ..” So if England win this series 2-1, should they go home?Benton’s bar is high.
Updated at 09.37 BST
3rd over: England 18-1 (Buttler 4, Malan 9) Starc gives way to Pat Cummins, who has not one but two dismissals. Malan sees a gap down the leg side, gets off the pads and gets the first four of the bat. And another, with a range, not quite intermediate but effective. “Class player,” says one of the Australian commentators. “I’m surprised he’s not in the Test team.” The reason for this is that it is better in Australia than anywhere else.
Updated at 09.26 BST
2nd over: England 9-1 (Buttler 3, Malan 1) Dawid Malan, so commanding the other night, is off the mark off the first ball, reaching the stumps and pushing the bowler for a single . Buttler sees it and thinks he will do the same. This is a flawless start from Hazelwood, who found some lift as well as line and length to beat Hales.
Updated at 09.21 BST
Wicket! Hales c Finch b Hazelwood 0 (England 7-1)
First blood! And it is a textbook Test-match wicket: good length, tight line, tentative stroke, simple catch at slip.
1st over: England 7-0 (Buttler 2, Hales 0) Starc swings the first ball, down the leg side, so England start with an offside. Jos Buttler takes the next one for two, and soon another swinger goes for four byes. Australia tend to start T20s by treating them as Test matches, which plays more to the extras’ strengths than Buttler’s.
The fielders are out and Mitchell Starc has the ball in his left hand.
England XI: Wood and Woakes return
With the Dettol Trophy in the bag, Jos Buttler could be giving every student a chance but he prefers to just change a couple of his seamers, the only department in which England have made changes in this series. Mark Wood is back, which should make the game even better to watch, and so is Chris Woakes, who should add a classy six to England’s total. Sam Curran, the man of the series so far, leaves, along with Chris Jordan, who is still returning from the treatment table. “We have to maintain the intensity,” says Buttler in that deceptively smooth tone.
England 1 Jos Buttler (capt, wkt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 David Willey, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Reece Topley.
Updated at 09.04 BST
Australia XI: Steve Smith is back
David Warner takes a breather after being whipped into the ropes the other night. His place goes to a rather promising reserve: Steve Smith. Finch says Glenn Maxwell will step up to open with him. When asked why he chose to play again, he gives a good, crisp answer. “We have to get better at chasing.”
Australia 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 Glenn Maxwell, 3 Mitch Marsh, 4 Steve Smith, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wkt), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood .
Toss: Australia win and bowl first
The draw has not been televised, but it appears to have taken place and was conducted by Punxsutawney Phil. Aaron Finch won it back and opted to bowl again. The man is determined to complete another eight-run losing streak.
preamble
Good morning everyone and welcome to a collector’s item. Yes, it’s a dead rubber, in Australia, because the Poms have already finished the series. It could have easily gone the other way, after two close things, but… see, it didn’t.
So Jos Buttler’s new England are 2-0 up with one to play. Having won the Dettol Trophy, they are looking at a particularly clean sweep. The only worry for their supporters is that the Aussies will be out for revenge when the two sides meet again at the World Cup a fortnight from today.
In fact, this is not the only concern. There is the faint sense of anxiety that Mark Wood may get injured again, that Adil Rashid may remain strangely unsettled, that Ben Stokes may continue to contribute less with the bat than with his boundary acrobatics. The true sports lover knows how to whistle a cloud on the sunniest day. But if you’re an England fan, maybe you can at least try to breathe in the sweet smell of success.
And if you’re an Aussie supporter, well, your boys only lost by eight runs each time, and in the first game it was all about resting all their bowlers. The revenge mission could start right here. The plate may not be cold enough, but the air looks like it will be – the forecast for Canberra says 12-13 degrees, sunny and showery. Is London in disguise?
If all goes well, the game starts at 7.10pm local time, which is 9.10am in the UK. I’ll be back with the draw and teams about 25 minutes early.
Updated at 10.08 BST