Melbourne: Glenn Maxwell scored 39 runs and Man-of-the-Match Kane Richardson took 3-33 as Australia beat England by seven wickets on Saturday in a tri-series Twenty20 match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
D’Arcy Short was 36 not out when Australia reached England’s total of 137-7 with more than five overs to spare. The hosts ended on 138-3 after Australia captain David Warner won the toss and elected to field.
It was Australia’s third consecutive win in the tri-series, which now shifts to New Zealand and a match Tuesday in Wellington between England and New Zealand.
England played without regular skipper Eoin Morgan, who strained his right groin during training and was replaced by James Vince. Jos Buttler captained England and top-scored with 46.
“It was another poor performance from us,” said Buttler. “We never really felt like we had enough (runs). We haven’t performed to our abilities as yet, and that’s disappointing.”
The unbeaten Australians are all but assured of a spot in the Feb. 21 final in Auckland after downing England by five wickets in Hobart and beating New Zealand in the series opener ahead of Saturday’s match.
Maxwell and Short combined for 39 off consecutive overs from Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid to end any hopes of an England comeback.
Warner left England in trouble at 34-3 in the fourth over when he ran out Dawid Malan with a direct hit.
Complementing Richardson’s three wickets for Australia were Billy Stanlake (2-28) and Andrew Tye (1-29).
