England first T20 match at the international level was held against Australia when Australia visited England in 2005. That was the maiden T20I match for England which was fought at Southampton on Jun 13, 2005. Michael Vaughan was the leader of the England team which is filled with outstanding batsmen like Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Paul Collingwood. They have got Andrew Flintoff, one of the best all-rounders in the world. On the other hand, Ricky Ponting was leading the Australian team.
The English captain decided to bat first after winning the toss and sent their openers Marcus Trescothick and Geraint Jones on the pitch. On the other side, Brett Lee got the new ball to open the attack. England got a slow start and made only 6 runs at the end of the 2 overs. Then Geraint Jones showed his aggressive batting and hit a couple of boundaries in a row. Australia got the first breakthrough in 3.5 overs, when McGrath dismissed Geraint Jones. Afterward, Andrew Flintoff came to join Trescothick but could not stay longer and was sent back by Kasprowicz in 5.5 overs.
When England lost 2 wickets at the score of 49 runs, Kevin Pietersen stepped out to handle the situation with Trescothick. Both of them played well and built up an important 51 runs partnership for 3rd wicket that helped them to reach the 100 runs landmark. Pietersen scored crucial 34 runs from just 18 balls. But within the next 10 runs, England lost their 3 important wickets of Pietersen, Michael Vaughan, and Marcus Trescothick in 10.5, 11.2, and 13.1 overs.
Then Paul Collingwood at the number 6 position struck some nice strokes and added 46 runs off 26 balls only with two 6s and five 4s. Collingwood resisted the demolition of England and brought his team to a respectable total of 179/8 runs. Glenn McGrath took 3 wickets, Andrew Symonds got 2, and Michael Kasprowicz, Jason Gillespie, and Michael Clarke took 1 wicket each. Australia needed 180 runs at the run rate of 9 runs per over to win the match.
After getting the target of 180 runs, Australian batters needed to show their skills against the English bowler. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden came out to the pitch to chase the target which was not going to be easy for them because England had the benefit of home ground. They started well by hitting two 4s in first and second overs each but in the next over, Darren Gough sent back both the openers in two continuous balls.
Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke then stepped out but they were also dismissed for a duck by Jon Lewis in 4th overs. Australia’s top order had completely collapsed by the English bowlers. Australia batters struggled a lot and three of them, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, and Ricky Ponting were out for a duck. No batsman could stay longer on the pitch and the entire squad was bowled out at 79 runs. Jon Lewis did an excellent effort with the ball and took 4 wickets, whereas Darren Gough took 3 wickets, Paul Collingwood got 2, and Steve Harmison 1 wicket.
Thus England won their first T20I match by a big margin of 100 runs. Kevin Pietersen was named Man of the Match award in England’s first T20 match in Southampton.
Match Result : England 179/8, Australia 79 Allout. England won by 100 runs Scorecard