Dawid Malan’s series-clinching century against New Zealand pushed him into pole position to open in England’s World Cup defence next month, as question marks continued to linger over Jason Roy.
Roy was once again missing due to back spasms, meaning he has been sidelined for all four games against the Black Caps, and Malan produced a gem of an innings to lay claim to his top-order spot.
He made a superb 127 from 114 balls at his old home ground of Lord’s, steering England to a score of 311 for nine that the tourists never came close to matching.
They succumbed for 211, going down by exactly 100 on the night and 3-1 overall, as Moeen Ali spun his way to figures of four for 50.
It is only a matter of days since Malan was being floated as a potential fall-guy should Harry Brook find himself parachuted into the squad for the tournament in India, but he has picked his moment expertly, following knocks of 54 and 96 with his fifth ODI ton.
Now, rather than finding himself squeezed out of the trip entirely, he seems likelier to slide into the first-choice XI.
Roy, England’s long-established opener, was left kicking his heels in the dressing room once more and may now be sweating over his place. He was one of the stars of England’s 2019 triumph but his fitness issues have emerged at the worst possible time as the final squad announcement nears.
Captain Jos Buttler, who admitted at the toss that Roy is frustrated by his struggles, suggested England could add the Surrey man to a second-string side that faces Ireland next week in a bid to get him up and running.
His absence opened the door for Malan and he played his part impeccably, scoring 14 boundaries and three sixes as he occupied the crease for 40 overs with a combination of touch and timing that eluded his team-mates. When he finally departed, reaching for a cut and nicking Rachin Ravindra, it was an ill-fitting end.
By then he had eased past 1,000 ODI runs in his 21st appearance – claiming a share of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott’s joint record. With an average of 61.52 and a strike-rate of 96.52, he has a formidable track record by any reckoning.
England rested Ben Stokes after the exertions of his record-breaking 182 on Wednesday evening but Brook was unable to make a go of his chance at number four, allowing Roy some respite.
Brook was dismissed for 10 when he hit a Ravindra drag down straight to mid-on and, with 37 from his three outings this series, has failed to amplify his case. Joe Root’s struggle for rhythm also continued, twice dropped in single figures before losing his stump for 29 aiming a slog sweep at Ravindra, who finished with four for 60.
Tim Southee paid a heavy price for his handling error in the 14th over, leaving the field for X-rays which revealed a fractured and dislocated right thumb. Like Roy, his World Cup place now hangs in the air.
Buttler was the best of the rest for England, chipping in a lively 36, before New Zealand took five for 68 in a busy final 10.
Just 48 hours earlier New Zealand had fallen short by a massive margin of 181 batting second and would have been eager to show greater resolve this time.
England, though, refused to let them into the game. Buttler took care of the dangerous Devon Conway in the fifth over, flinging off his right glove and running the opener out with an opportunistic effort behind the stumps, then held on to Will Young as David Willey found an outside.
Having failed to bring the required power to the powerplay, and with news of Southee’s fractured thumb emerging, an air of resignation appeared to take hold. Twice in a row a Buttler bowling change paid off in the first over, Brydon Carse firing one into Daryl Mitchell’s off stump with a nipping delivery approaching 90mph and Moeen darting an off-break down the slope and right through Tom Latham.
At 88 for four, and with two injured tailenders, it looked like game over. Ravindra completed a productive evening in north London by smashing 61 from number seven, but by then Moeen had already done enough.
He had Henry Nicholls lbw thanks to Buttler’s insistence on calling for DRS, then picked off Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry with successive deliveries. Ben Lister defied a hamstring strain to block the hat-trick before Sam Curran ended Ravindra’s spree with a yorker.
de Kock spurs Royals to 10-run win (DLS) over Falcons in rain-affected match
The thirteenth match of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) proved unlucky for Antigua & Barbuda Falcons as Barbados Royals chalked up their third victory in a row with a 10-run win by DLS on a rain-affected evening in Bridgetown.
After being inserted the Falcons posted a competitive total of 176-5 largely thanks to a composed stand of 92 runs between Sam Billings and Justin Greaves, that was also a record for any wicket for the Falcons.
In response the Royals got off to a shaky start, Mohammad Amir stitched together a maiden in the first over of the Falcons bowling effort, a frustrated Rahkeem Cornwall then plinked his seventh delivery, his first from Chris Green, straight to Roshon Primus at mid-off. Primus celebrated the catch keenly but his fortunes would take a dramatic turn shortly afterwards.
With the Royals on 81-2 off eleven overs, needing 96 runs off the remaining 54 balls Primus served up an over that went for 23 runs and seemed to last an eternity. The over saw Primus lose his radar with four wides and three chest high full toss no balls accompanying a two fours, a six and the wicket of Quinton de Kock caught behind for 48 off 30 balls.
By the end of the over the Royals had motored to 104-3 with a crucial run rate injection. The players came and went from the field a couple of times as the rain clouds built over Bridgetown, a decisive and heavy downpour seeing the match eventually called and curtailed with seven overs to go. The Royals comfortably ahead on DLS to run out winners by 10 runs.
De Kock was named Player of the Match for another confident knock with the bat, the South African southpaw has racked up 154 runs in three innings at an average of 77 in this year’s competition so far – powering the Royals to second in the table on six points with Guyana Amazon Warriors ahead of them only by run rate.
Salt laments 'everything was good apart from the result'
England's stand-in captain Phil Salt took plenty of positives from Wednesday's defeat to Australia, claiming "everything was good bar the result".
Travis Head's superb knock of 59 from just 23 balls, which included plundering 30 from a single over, set Australia on their way.
England fought back with the ball, though, and were ultimately set a target of 180.
But big hitters Salt (20), Sam Curran (18) and Liam Livingstone (37) all went in quick succession as England failed to get going and lost by 28 runs.
"Everything was good apart from the result," said Salt, who was standing in for the absent Jos Buttler.
"They played well. Heady came out swinging in the powerplay and gave them a head start.
"We were a couple of wickets too far down. Heady's done that for a couple of years, it's about how do we shut that down?
"[But] good signs. They played well, we dragged it back, we should have chased it realistically. At times we could have taken partnerships deeper. But we've had a good look at them now."
Australia have won back-to-back T20Is against England for the first time since February 2018, as the hosts failed to win a third straight T20I at The Rose Bowl.
"It was a nice start. Nice to get under way," said Head.
"To set a platform like that with the hitters we had behind us, it was nice to do the job."
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh added: "We certainly looked on course for 200 but did our best to stuff it up, so it's nice to start the series with a win."
Head leads Australia to win as new-look England crumble in chase
Travis Head led the way for Australia, setting them on their way to a comfortable 28-run victory over England in their first of three T20Is on Wednesday.
England had salvaged some pride during Australia's late collapse, only to fumble their chance with the bat as they failed to reach their target of 180.
Australia got off to a flying start, with Head hitting 59 off 23 balls, including 30 off Sam Curran in a single over with three fours and three sixes.
Liam Livingstone helped to slow the tide with 3-22, including taking opener Matt Short (41), before the tourists collapsed, losing their last five wickets for 14 runs, with Jofra Archer taking two in two (2-31), to finish 179 all out.
The hosts just could not get going though, as Phil Salt was caught for 20 before Curran (18) and Livingstone (37) both departed in the space of four deliveries to stunt any England progress.
Jordan Cox (17), one of three debutants, had already been dismissed, thanks to Tim David's stunning catch at full stretch, before the lower order slumped to 151 in the final over.
The second T20I takes place on Friday in Cardiff, where England will attempt to force a decider for the final contest on Sunday.
Data Debrief: Unhappy homecoming
Australia have won back-to-back T20Is against England for the first time since February 2018, but the hosts would have expected much better when they saw the target set for them.
Instead, they failed to win a third consecutive T20 match at The Rose Bowl, their longest outright losing streak at the venue in the history of the format.
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