David Warner said there were "no excuses" for Australia after a remarkable collapse saw England seal a stunning victory in the first Twenty20 international in Southampton. (More Cricket News)
Australia – the world's top-ranked T20 side – looked to be cruising to victory when openers Aaron Finch (46) and Warner (58) got them off to a strong start as they bid to chase down England's meagre 162-7, a total boosted by Dawid Malan (66).
Yet a glut of wickets resulted in the tourists, playing for the first time since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, needing 15 from the last over.
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Despite the efforts of Marcus Stoinis (23 not out), England held on for a two-run triumph, a result which left Warner, who insisted Australia must improve on finding the boundary during difficult spells in the middle of the innings, reeling.
"There's no excuses there. I think the guys were outplayed to be honest. Well executed by England at the end and we just couldn't get across the line," Warner told a news conference.
"When you're losing wickets, trying to get momentum out there. I pride myself on being there at the end but you can't help getting good deliveries.
"When you're chasing a run a ball, good shots get you close to that end result. It's disappointing because I think it's three or four games in a row now.
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"You've got to work out the wicket as the ball gets older. They were bashing a length, it was quite inconsistent. We've played practice games on this which but we felt it was a bit different at night. You've got to assess those conditions when you're out there but we've been playing this game a long time and we should be able to do that.
"I felt we did, we just didn't hit the boundaries as much as we'd have liked through that middle period.
"We'll have a chat on what to work on for the next game, how to apply that. We're playing the next two games on this wicket but the next game is a day game, so that could be a bit drier and a little bit different."
There was one positive for Warner, at least.
"From a crowd perspective, no," Warner said when asked if the match felt like a game between England and Australia without fans in attendance.
"It was the first time I've been here and not got abuse. It was quite nice!
"But yet again, you get that up and going [from the crowd]. That's why we love playing home and away. There's home advantage and away advantage. It was a bit bizarre, but we're always up for international cricket. We're just grateful to be back playing and want to make the most of that."
