Travis Head Stays; Marsh To Drop Marcus Stoinis? Australia's Playing XI For 2nd T20I Vs England
Stoinis likely to be dropped by Mitch Marsh [x]
Australia defeated England in the first T20I of the series, and took a 1-0 lead against their arch-rivals. It was a thorough professional performance by the Aussies, who won the match by 28 runs and will be riding high on confidence heading into the second game.
Batting first, Australia posted 179 runs on the board, and the onslaught was led by none other than Travis Head, who smacked 59 off 23 deliveries, and took 30 runs off Sam Curran's over to push England on the back-foot.
In reply, England lost wickets at regular intervals, and despite a fightback from Liam Livingstone, the English side were bundled out for 151, handing Australia a comfortable win. With the second T20I coming up on Friday, Australia won't be looking to make too many changes in their playing XI.
Marsh to replace Stoinis with Hardie
However, skipper Mitchell Marsh might be tempted to replace one player in the side - Marcus Stoinis. He had a poor game, both with bat and ball, and Marsh could be tempted to bring in Aaron Hardie in the side. Stoinis has blown hot and cold in the last one-year for the Aussies, and it will be an interesting call if Marsh replaces Stoinis with Hardie.
There could be a temptation to include Jake Fraser-McGurk at the opening slot alongside Travis Head, but the way Matthew Short batted in the first match, that possibility could be ruled out. However, Fraser-McGurk scored two ducks in the T20I series against Scotland, and is low on confidence.
The rest of the side should remain the same, with exceptional changes being made due to any unfortunate injuries. The bowling unit did a terrific job against a power-packed English batting unit and will be relishing their chances in the second T20I as well.
Australia's probable XI Vs England in second T20I
Travis Head, Matthew Short, Mitchell Marsh (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Aaron Hardie, Tim David, Cameron Green, Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood