England captain Eoin Morgan shows pride at Ben Stokes and David Willey
ByPA Sport
Published 01/09/2015 at 03:38 GMT
Captain Eoin Morgan looked on with pride as Ben Stokes and David Willey closed out another victory for England's fresh-faced limited-overs side in Cardiff.
England's David Willey (second right) celebrates with Ben Stokes during England's Twenty20 win over Australia
Image credit: PA Sport
The SSE Swalec hosted an England win at the start of the Ashes and the white-ball section of the tour began in a similar fashion as the hosts edged the NatWest Twenty20 by five runs.
Morgan, playing competitively for the first time in a month having negotiated a rest period with Middlesex, shared a dashing stand of 135 in 75 balls with Moeen Ali, but preferred to press his younger colleagues to the fore.
Chasing 183 to win Australia appeared to be in the ascendance with two overs to go.
They still needed 20 but had Steve Smith in place on 89 not out and six wickets in hand.
But with Willey and Stokes sharing the last 12 balls, Australia lost four wickets and scored only 14.
Willey bagged the prized scalp of Smith before Stokes' over brought two run-outs and the wicket of Nathan Coulter-Nile.
At the end of proceedings, Morgan was purring about the duo's fearless display.
"I hadn't earmarked Ben, before the day had started, for bowling the last over of the game," he admitted.
"It was a tough one but he took on the responsibility of bowling that over really well.
"Playing with 12 (runs), the challenge was to get ahead on the over. That gives him a licence and a confidence to play the way he did.
"A bit like Stokesy, David just loves responsibility. He likes the limelight, he doesn't shy away from taking it on.
"His attitude towards things, amongst others in the changing room, will go a big way to changing the culture the way we've tried to over the last few months.
"He's brilliant."
Smith, who came into the match with a top score of 34 in the format, admitted he was frustrated not to deliver victory with a maiden century.
''I thought we timed our run pretty well. It would have been nice to have been 100 not out and win that game for us but it wasn't to be," he said.
''I was disappointed when I got out. I was trying to get the side home and it didn't work out today.
''I thought both innings were actually quite similar; two early wickets from each of us and then a 100-run partnership.
''They finished off just a little bit better than us with the bat. A couple of their guys came in and hit boundaries early on and I guess our blokes weren't able to do that at the end and I think that's what cost us.''
The sides begin a five-match ODI series at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday, with James Vince and Reece Topley dropping out of the squad.
Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood and James Taylor come in to bolster the 50-over ranks.
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