Sam Curran holds off Wade & David threat as England sail to series win

Dawid Malan plays a shot during his 82 in second T20I

England edged past Australia to script an eight-run win in the second T20I in Canberra. With wins in the first two games, the Joss Buttler-led side have now sealed the series with a match to spare.

Dawid Malan and all-rounder Sam Curran were the stars of the show for the tourists, with the latter of the two holding off a charging Pat Cummins in the death overs to flatten Australia.

Sam Curran’s three-fer drowns Australia in run-chase

Earlier, England’s number three Dawid Malan clobbered his way to an empowering 82. The left-hander faced just 49 deliveries in the innings, and dispatched seven of them for boundaries and four of them for sixes. Moeen Ali also provided much spark to the 178-run total with his rapid 44.

In pursuit of a daunting target, both Australian openers, David Warner and Aaron Finch, made their way back to the pavilion without making much impact at the top. All-rounder Glenn Maxwell also departed early, leaving the rest of the Australian batters with an uphill task in the run-chase.

Mitchell Marsh and Tim David threatened with their 40s, while Pat Cummins scored an unbeaten 18* in the death, but despite their best efforts, 170 was all the hosts could manage on a high-scoring evening.

English speedster Sam Curran inflicted the most damage to the hosts, by dismissing the likes of Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Tim David. Moreover, the cricketer conceded just 25 runs off his four overs.

Brief scores:

England: 178-7 (20)

Dawid Malan 82 (49), Moeen Ali 44 (27)
Marcus Stoinis 3-34, Adam Zampa 2-26

Australia: 170-6 (20)

Mitchell Marsh 45 (29), Tim David 40 (23)
Sam Curran 3-25, Ben Stokes 1-10

England won by 8 runs

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