Australia cruised to a seven-wicket win over Scotland at the Grange in the first T20 international of their three-match series.

Having been put in to bat, the hosts set a target of 155 with opener George Munsey top scoring with 28.

But despite losing Jake Fraser-McGurk for a duck on debut, Australia scored freely during the powerplay, reaching a record score of 113-1 in the first six overs.

Travis Head was the main source of the destruction, smashing 80 off just 25 balls with 12 fours and five sixes, to guide Australia home with 62 balls to spare.

The sides meet again on Friday and Saturday for the final two games of the series.

"That's what you expect against one of the best sides in the world," Scotland captain Richie Berrington told BBC Sport.

"We started pretty well with the bat, but unfortunately a few of us got in and didn't kick on. Credit to the Australian bowlers, they made it hard to get away and capitalise on that good start.

"We're really disappointed but it's a great experience, particularly for some of our younger guys."

After Scotland gave Australia a scare at the T20 World Cup in June, there was some hope that they could go one better and provide an upset in Edinburgh.

However, with no Scottish batter scoring more than the 28 by opener Munsey, it was always going to be a struggle restricting Australia to less than 154.

Oli Hairs' early dismissal set the tone as he was caught in the second over, as the Scots failed to build a single partnership of more than 50.

Munsey was able to get hold of a few looser deliveries, hitting three sixes in his 16-ball spell, before he was dismissed by a brilliant Josh Inglis catch behind the stumps.

A few batters saw shots snaffled on the boundary while Mark Watt (16) was removed thanks to an incredible Marcus Stoinis grab at extra cover.

Scotland dismissed Fraser-McGurk with just the third ball but that early optimism was soon ripped apart by a devastating Head performance with the bat.

He and skipper Mitchell Marsh hit 14 consecutive boundaries - five sixes and nine fours - to rocket up to 113-1 after just six overs.

Watt was able to dismiss both the Australian batters in the same over but the match was a foregone conclusion by that point, with Inglis and Stoinis able to knock off the remaining 33 runs.

"I was a little nervous coming out so it was nice for me and the captain to get some runs," Head told BBC Sport.

"It's been a nice period for the last couple of years. It was a tricky start losing Jake, but always nice to have Mitch at the other end, and my role is to maximise the powerplay - we did that."

Source: BBC

BDST: 0907 HRS, SEPT 05, 2023
SMS