Head, who scored 59 of 23 balls in his side’s 179 all out batting first, emphasized the importance of his fast start, aiming to put early pressure on the English bowlers.
“Nice to get away quickly. I just tried to score,” Head said after the match. “The wickets against Scotland were very different. We were trying to use the pace on the ball. Guys have been playing together for the last couple of years.”
Head’s knock included a brutal assault against Sam Curran, who was taken for 30 runs in an over by the Australian opener.
“The coach and captain want me to bat freely. I try to whack it every time,” Head added.
Matthew Short (41 off 26 balls) was the other main contributor to Australia’s total. Head’s opening partnership with Short, who had missed the Scotland series, gave Australia a strong start of 86 runs in the six overs of Powerplay.
England’s leg-spinners Adil Rashid (1 for 23) and Liam Livingstone (3 for 22) slowed down Australia’s run rate in the middle overs. Poor shot selection from the Australians helped England’s cause as fast bowlers Jofra Archer (2 for 31) and Saqib Mahmood (2 for 21) wrapped up the tail.
Despite being 118 for 2 at the halfway mark, Australia collapsed, losing eight wickets for 61 runs after the drinks break.
Josh Inglis managed to keep Australia’s score moving with a 37-run knock, but Livingstone removed Short, Marcus Stoinis (10) and Tim David (0), leaving Australia at 132 for 5 in the 13th over.
In response, England could only manage 151 in 19.2 overs.
Aussie pacers Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott took two and three wickets respectively, while leg-spinner Adam Zampa took two.