Alex Hales slammed 84 from 51 balls in England's win over Australia in the series-opening T20 in Perth; will now get "first crack" at opening with Jos Buttler in T20 World Cup - follow England's second T20 vs Australia on Wednesday (9.10am UK time) with our live blog
Monday 10 October 2022 13:24, UK
If there was ever any doubt that Alex Hales would open for England in the T20 World Cup, then that has now been eliminated after he pummelled Australia's attack in Perth.
When the team line-up for their tournament opener against Afghanistan at the same venue on October 22, it looks certain to be Hales and Jos Buttler up top, with the pair looking to replicate what they achieved at the Optus Stadium on Sunday in an opening partnership of 132 from 68 balls.
There was never any doubt that Buttler, fitness-permitting, would be in England's top two and he displayed his white-ball mastery with 68 from 32 balls in his his first knock since August having overcome a calf problem.
But the emergence of Phil Salt - who hit England's highest individual score of 88 from 41 balls in the recent 4-3 T20I triumph in Pakistan - had put pressure on Hales and suggested that it was not a given that the now reintegrated Nottinghamshire slugger would be in England's World Cup XI.
It seems a given now after he pumped 84 from 51 deliveries - an innings which contained 12 fours and three sixes - and continued his love affair with Australian conditions.
Hales has swathes of experience Down Under, amassing over 1,800 runs across his 60 career innings in the Big Bash League at a strike rate over 150.
That was a principal reason, along with his experience, why Hales' three-year exile for off-field reasons was brought to an end once Jonny Bairstow - the man set to open with Buttler in the World Cup - was ruled out after an untimely fall on a Yorkshire golf course that resulted in a broken leg.
On Hales opening at the World Cup, Buttler said: "Things change quickly in sport but he's got the first crack at it, at the minute.
"It was a really tough call, we spent a lot of time debating it and thinking about it. It was only really Alex's record in Australia that got him ahead.
"He's settled back in really well and he played fantastically well here. He's a really destructive player, he accesses all areas of the ground and he's intimidating to bowl at."
In his temporary role as pundit, Bairstow used words like "clinical" and "exhibition" to describe the riotous opening stand between Buttler and Hales, with 22 boundaries coming in their partnership all told. Buttler reaching fifty from 25 balls, Hales a lick slower at 29 deliveries.
Hales dubbed Buttler the "best white-ball player in the world" during a half-time chinwag with the host broadcaster but Hales is a fearsome proposition in his own right. Tall and with long levers, he can find the fence, and indeed smash you over it, even when he does not middle the ball.
There were a few hacked boundaries on Sunday, with top-edges, inside-edges and far from the sweetest of connections earning him runs.
But there were also crisp sixes back over the heads of Daniel Sams and Marcus Stoinis, a belted four off Cameron Green over cover and delicate placement as he caressed Nathan Ellis to the backward-point boundary.
Hales looks just as home on bouncy Australian pitches as he does at his home ground Trent Bridge.
Hales in England's T20 side just seems to work. He was the first player to score a T20 international ton for the men's team - his 116 not out against Sri Lanka in 2014 remains their highest score in the format - and has been involved in all four of their highest T20I opening partnerships of all time.
Sunday's salvo with Buttler ranks second on that list, behind only the unbeaten 143 he and Michael Lumb had put on against New Zealand in Wellington in February 2013.
Hales has racked up the T20 milestones for England, then, but Ben Stokes has not - except for the unwanted one of never having passed fifty for his country in the format after a scratchy run-a-ball nine against Australia.
There are caveats to that, with Stokes' previous T20 International appearance coming in March 2021, added to the fact that he had only batted in the top three on three occasions prior this match.
When he trotted out at first drop on Sunday, there was no real time for him to settle in. The sight of Stokes heading to the wicket as opposed to usual No 3 Dawid Malan showed the plan was to pummel Australia further and build on the rapid start given to them by Hales and Buttler.
Stokes couldn't quite manage that, with his innings containing as many dropped catches and smashes to the chin - Stokes clocked under the grille after failing to nail an attempted reverse sweep - as boundaries. His solitary four edged rather than middled before he holed out to long-on.
The left-hander was bound to be rusty having not played an innings at all since England's final Test of the summer against South Africa in mid-September and not played a white-ball knock since making five in his retirement one-day international against the Proteas in July.
Getting the best out of Stokes has been viewed as key if England are to go deep in this T20 World Cup and the slot they have earmarked is No 4, as opposed to the opening role where he smashed an IPL ton in 2020 and the No 5/No 6 berth where his impact has previously been limited in T20s.
Stokes is such a talented and cerebral player that he will probably make it work - No 4, on paper, seems perfect for him, in that he can take the game on if necessary but also assesses and try to fix the situation if wickets fall in the powerplay, just as they did in all three of England's losses in Pakistan.
England are still seeking how to maximise Stokes in this format, whereas they know full well how to get the best out of Hales. Plonk him up top and let him loose.
He missed his nation's Stokes-inspired 50-over World Cup triumph in 2019 but could now be crucial in their pursuit of T20 silverware.
Follow England's three-match T20I series in Australia across Sky Sports' digital platforms. Our live blog of game two, in Canberra, will get under way at 8.45am on Wednesday ahead of a 9.10am start. Then catch every game from the T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports from Sunday, October 16.
