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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Aus vs Eng, 1st T20I, Adelaide

Debutant Chris Woakes guided England to a record eighth successive Twenty20 win as the tourists inflicted more torment on Australia with a final ball one-wicket victory at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.

Despite all-rounder Shane Watson's best efforts to single-handedly lift the home side to victory, 21-year-old Woakes (19 not out) was the hero as he hit the winning run from the final ball of the England innings.
After Australia posted 157-4, with Watson top-scoring with 59 from 31 balls, England wobbled in the chase as Watson picked up four wickets, but Woakes' cool head enabled them to reach 158-9 and snatch the win.

England previously shared the record for most successive T20 international wins with South Africa and Pakistan and the result follows hard on the heels of their historic 3-1 Ashes triumph over the embattled Australians.

England captain Paul Collingwood heralded the new record.

"Eight wins (in a row) in this form of the game is very special," he said.

Watson took little solace from his own form and said the Australians should have posted a higher total.
"To get so close is very disappointing," he said.
"It would have been nice to get a few more."

With wickets falling at the other end, Woakes kept his cool when he found himself on strike with his side needing three runs from the last two balls from Watson with only one wicket in hand.

He slashed the next delivery to the cover boundary for two, then drove Watson through the infield for what would have been a boundary had he and number 11 Ajmal Shahzad not completed the winning run first.

Watson could scarcely have done more for the home side, with 4-15 from his four overs after his solo effort with the bat.
The two teams meet again on Friday at the MCG, before playing a seven-match one-day series.

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