Travis Head leads Australian carnage in Edinburgh

Australia’s white-ball tour of the United Kingdom started in rampaging fashion as they decimated Scotland by seven wickets in the opening game of the three-match T20I series in Edinburgh on Wednesday (September 4). Chasing an under-par target of 155 on a ground with small dimensions, Australia led by Travis Head’s blitzing 25-ball 80 made a mockery of the chase as they got home before the halfway mark of their innings.

Head’s assault shattered multiple records, including the joint-fastest fifty (off 17 balls) for Australia in the format, equalling teammate Marcus Stoinis. The bigger records were the highest individual score by a batter and the team total in the powerplay – both of which were destroyed. Head faced 22 off the 36 legal deliveries in the powerplay and smashed 73 off them, while Australia hammered 113 inside the first six overs to leave the home crowd in a state of shock. It was a game that the visitors were expected to win but the manner of domination was unreal.

Mitchell Marsh (39 off 12) was also destructive during his stay in the middle while Josh Inglis (27* off 13) provided the finishing touches to ensure that the game was done in a jiffy. The severity of the carnage lies in one stunning start – 30 of the 58 deliveries faced by Australia were boundaries – 20 fours and ten sixes. Scotland’s bowlers weren’t too guilty in their radar but on such a ground, the margin for error was just too small, as the home side found out in a harsh manner.

Earlier in the afternoon, Scotland put up a lukewarm batting effort on a decent surface with none of the batters going past 30 although quite a few of them did manage starts. George Munsey (28 off 16) easily looked the most fluent of the lot while Richie Berrington and Matthew Cross also got 20s but the hosts needed one or two of their batters to go deep into the innings. That, however, didn’t happen as Australia struck at regular intervals. From 101/3, Scotland slipped to 117/6 in the matter of 21 deliveries and it eventually affected their total by about 20-25 runs. In hindsight, it may not have mattered much, given how Australia executed their chase but a 175-plus total would have given Scotland a relatively better chance to put early pressure.

Zavier Bartlett (2-23) and Adam Zampa (2-33) were the most impactful bowlers for Australia while Sean Abbott (3-39) also picked up timely strikes.

Brief scores: Scotland 154/9 (George Munsey 28; Sean Abbott 3-39, Xavier Bartlett 2-23) lost to Australia 156/3 (Travis Head 80, Mitchell Marsh 39, Josh Inglis 27*) by seven wickets