England vs Australia Highlights 2nd T20I: Liam Livingstone's All-Round Show Propels England To Win vs Australia

We are back for England's reply! The umpires are out to the middle and the players of Australia take their respective fielding positions. Will Jacks and Phil Salt are the two openers for England. And it will be Aaron Hardie to get the proceedings underway with the ball for Australia with a slip and a short third in place. The countdown finishes, and, here we go...

... RUN CHASE ...

Well then, Australia has managed to put on a challenging total on the board and England has their work cut out to keep the series alive for them. For a fact, 175 is the highest run chase ever at Cardiff. After an underwhelming outing with the bat in the first T20I, the hosts would like to redeem themselves this time around with an improved batting display. And as the dew factor will come into play, the pitch might get better under the lights which could prove to be a challenge for the Aussies. But, they do have a strong experienced bowling unit ready to take on any tough examination. An immersive run chase is on the cards, folks! Stay tuned.

Jake Fraser-McGurk is up for a quick chat. He says that he has done some good work at number 3 in the BBL and Indian T20 League, but this was his first time in international cricket and he enjoyed it. Adds that as he has not played under these conditions much, he was a bit nervous but confident as well because he did his homework ahead of the game. Mentions that it is difficult to hit on the bigger sides and you have to pick the gaps for the twos. Ends by saying that they are confident about defending any total, and hopes they can cross the line again.

England's start was far from ideal, with their pacers struggling to find their rhythm. Their bowling lacked synchronization with the field placements, resulting in easy pickings for a batter of Head's calibre, who ruthlessly punished every subpar delivery. The Powerplay proved costly for England, leaking 67 runs, though Carse provided a glimmer of hope by striking immediately upon his introduction. As the field restrictions eased, the duo of Adil Rashid and Carse bowled in tandem, creating pressure and stemming the flow of runs effectively. However, it was Liam Livingstone who truly turned the tide. His two quick wickets dealt a significant blow to Australia's momentum in the mid overs. However, England couldn't finish on a high as they conceded 45 runs in the final five overs of which 20 came in the final over itself.

Fraser-McGurk forged strong alliances, first with Short and subsequently with Inglis. But JFM perished right after notching his fifty, but by that time, Josh Inglis had found his groove. Recognizing the situation, Inglis shouldered the responsibility of maintaining the aggressive run rate, and accelerating the scoring to keep Australia's momentum alive. But again, Australia's middle order vulnerability was exposed as they lost quick wickets and slipped from 131/3 to 157/6 towards the slog overs. It was Aaron Hardie in the end who provided that late ascendancy to his team with a quickfire cameo which catapulted the Aussies to a challenging 193.

Australia stormed out of the gates, their formidable opening duo of Head and Short pouncing on every loose delivery. Head, in devastating form, spearheaded the assault, laying a rock-solid foundation for his team. While Short seemed eager to accelerate, looked a bit rusty. Head's departure though, didn't slow down the scoring rate one bit as the young Jake Fraser-McGurk went hammer and tongs from the very first delivery.

A good start and a good finish for Australia! England had their moments in the mid over phase but the ones donning the Baggy Greens would be the happier of the two camps at the break! On a surface where batting first average is around 150, Australia has managed to mount the second-highest first inning total on the board at Cardiff, just behind 207 by South Africa.

Just a leg bye to end the innings! Sam Curran hits the length hard, on middle, angling in as well, Cameron Green fails to get a bat on that as it goes off his pads to the leg side. The batters cross for a leg bye as Curran misses his shy at the bowler's end. Australia finishes on 193/6!

Overpitched and outside off again, Aaron Hardie drills it away towards deep point for a single.

Fuller, outside off, but a bit too much, Aaron Hardie swings again but misses. Wided again!

Back of a length and on middle, Aaron Hardie pulls it away wide of deep square leg and comes back for the second run. Good running. Well, Australia are past that 190-mark!

Goes for the wide yorker, but this is way outside off, Aaron Hardie fails to reach it. Wided.

SIX! Into the crowd! 14 runs already with half the over still to go! Sam Curran lands this on a good length, on middle, angling in, Aaron Hardie uses the depth of his crease and whacks it away, gets enough bat on it to sail over the deep square leg fence for a biggie.

FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries! This is not good bowling from Sam Curran. There is no protection in the deep, but he still bowls this full and outside off, Aaron Hardie just has to get some bat on it and he does exactly that slicing it over point for four more runs.

FOUR! Great start to the over for the Aussies! Sam Curran misses the yorker and bowls this in the slot, on middle, Aaron Hardie clears his front leg away and whips it away between deep mid-wicket and long on for a boundary.

Sam Curran (2-0-18-1) will bowl the final over.

A low full toss, on middle, Cameron Green tries to slog it a bit too hard, loses his shape and mistimes it wide of long on for a brace. Australia will be looking to get something near 190 here!

No run.

Saqib Mahmood nails the yorker now, on middle, angling in again, Aaron Hardie just manages to get his bat down in time to dig it out as the ball hits his pads and stays put. The batters sets off for the run again and makes it as Mahmood's kick does not hit the stumps. Interestingly, England takes a review here but UltraEdge confirms bat is involved and they lose the review.