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England’s World Cup woes followed them to Barbados as their T20 defense looked shaky after a heavy defeat by Australia.
Six months after a terrible performance in India’s 50-over contest and four days after a lackluster bowling performance in their flop against Scotland, Jos Buttler’s men were beaten by 36 runs by their Ashes rivals.
An unchanged attack sputtered around Kensington Oval as Australia piled up their highest score of the tournament so far, reaching 201 for seven with 13 sixes and 14 fours.
England’s chase got no closer, Buttler top-scoring with 42 as they climbed to 165 for six.
While Australia deserve plenty of credit for seizing the initiative, Travis Head and David Warner blasting sixes as they stormed to 74 for two in a strong tone-setting game, England were complicit in their downfall.
The wildcard decision to give the new ball to part-timer Will Jacks cost 22 hard-fought runs, the combined struggles of Mark Wood and Chris Jordan made Reece Topley’s miss look increasingly odd, and flat-footed fielding created the impression of a disorganized team.
With the bat, Phil Salt (37) and Buttler’s bright opening stand was weighed down by the struggling efforts of Jax and Jonny Bairstow, who were visibly lacking rhythm.
England now face a battle to reach the Super 8 stage ahead of the Scots, needing hard-fought wins over Namibia and Oman to pick up points and increase their net tally. After winning the toss, things started to go awry when Buttler bowled Jax the second over of the day.
A part-timer with just two overs in his previous 14 appearances, Jacks was out of sorts as Head bowled his first two deliveries into the wind and over the shortest boundary before Warner chipped him for another six over deep square.
Trying to make amends with a burst of speed from Mark Wood, England then watched as Australia took another 22 off the paceman. A length ball on leg stump, a short, straight delivery and a wayward full toss all got the same treatment as Head and Warner swung hard.
It took just 22 balls to bring up the competition’s fastest half-century, but none of the knocks could last long. Moeen Ali bowled Warner for 39 off 16 balls with one that stayed low and Jofra Archer’s clever variations of pace saw him scatter Head’s stumps with a knife.
Another half-century stand between Mitch Marsh and Glenn Maxwell followed as England wavered. Bairstow was slow to take a potential catch, Jordan was offering too many wides and Buttler seemed to be showing signs of unhappiness with the standards of play on the ground.
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England’s sloppiness saw them even penalized for a slow over, losing a boundary fielder for the final over. Jordan somehow surpassed his best so far by taking his 100th T20 wicket and completing a run-out.
Needing a daunting 10 overs against an attack full of class and experience, Salt and Buttler were not far behind at the start of the chase. Salt bowled the first ball off his pads for four and by the third over they were 31 for no loss, Salt blasted his Kolkata Knight Riders teammate Mitchell Starc for a 106-metre six in the upper tier of the stands.
A 19-run stand on Starc’s next visit, including sixes for both men, gave the scoreboard a welcome boost, but the arrival of Adam Zampa’s leg-spinner was about to change things.
His strike was instant, hitting Salt with a flat first delivery that clipped off the off stump. Buttler surrendered in Zampa’s second over, hitting a straight six before seeing a back-swing drift straight to reverse point.
England’s momentum evaporated when Jacks scratched a run-a-ball 10 and Bairstow looked terribly upset with seven off 13. Knotted by Zampa and caught in the deep by Josh Hazlewood, he slammed his bat as he stomped towards the changing room .
Moeen picked up three sixes in five balls from Maxwell but their game slipped away as they dramatically failed to make things competitive.
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