England are on a high in T20Is although they could only draw the recent T20 series against Pakistan that ended on Tuesday. They had earlier won the series against South Africa 2-1 in 2020 in the Rainbow Nation. And now with Australia set to tour them for a three-match series that begins on September 4, we take a look at some of the players' milestones to keep an eye on.
Mitchell Starc's impact for Australia
Mitchell Starc is on 43 T20I wickets and is set to become the first Australian bowler to get to 50 T20I wickets in the country's history. He, however, isn't on the top of the list, with Shane Watson leading the charts currently with 48 wickets in the shortest format of the game. Starc has an average of 18.65 in T20Is and a strike rate of 16.1 in the format. What possibly stands out for him is his economy rate of 6.91, which is rare for a fast bowler in this format.
The dangerous Aaron Finch
Australia's skipper Aaron Finch is a prolific T20 player and has forged some extraordinary partnerships with David Warner in the past. Finch holds the record for the highest individual score in T20Is and is now on 1989 runs, 11 runs away from becoming the second Australian batsman after David Warner to 2000 T20I runs.
Finch is the highest run-scorer in T20Is for Australia against England with 425 runs at an average of 70.83 with a hundred and three fifties. His second score of 150 or more in T20Is - a blistering 156 also came against England in Southampton in 2013.
Adil Rashid set for 50 wickets
Adil Rashid is among the most wicket-taking leg-spinners in limited-overs cricket in recent years. While the focus has been on England's pacers, Rashid has racked up wickets in plenty and is on 43 T20I wickets. He needs seven wickets to reach 50 T20I wickets, a landmark that only three other England bowlers and one other England spinner has achieved. Rashid will be the fourth England bowler after Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan and Graeme Swann to the feat.
Glenn Maxwell's T20I centuries
Glenn Maxwell makes a return to the Australian ODI team but in T20Is, the all-rounder is a mainstay and an impact player. Maxwell has fit in well in the middle-order as well as at the top of the batting line-up, and has three T20I centuries for Australia. He needs one more hundred in the format to go level with Rohit Sharma for most T20I hundreds. Colin Munro from Australia also has three T20I centuries. Maxwell's centuries in T20Is came against Sri Lanka (145* off 65 balls in 2016), England (103* off 58 balls in 2018) and India (113* off 55 balls in 2019).
Eoin Morgan's ridiculous numbers
Eoin Morgan has racked up some extraordinary numbers in international cricket in recent times. According to a recent interview, Morgan himself clarified that he never remembers hitting the ball as well as he is doing now. This is backed up by the stats too.
Until 2019, Morgan had 1734 runs in 75 T20I innings at an average of 28.42 and a strike rate of 131.36, hardly mind-blowing by any stretch of one's imagination. Morgan also notched up nine fifties in this period, roughly one every eighth innings on an average.
Since 2019, the numbers have skyrocketed. Morgan has 494 runs at an average of 44.9 and a strike rate of 174.55 with five half-centuries in 15 innings, one every third innings on an average. Morgan will be the first England batsman to 500 runs in T20Is since 2019 when he gets there.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Oli Scarff
