Australia opener Travis Head, on Wednesday, emulated his Sunrisers Hyderabad show from IPL 2024, to help Australia chase down the target of 155 runs in just 58 balls in the opening T20I match against Scotland at the Grange Cricket Club, in Edinburgh. En route to the seven-wicket win, that saw Australia take a 1-0 lead in the contest, the visitors shattered a T20I world record.
Jake Fraser-McGurk, rewarded for his stunning show in Big Bash League and the IPL earlier this year, failed to impress on his debut as he was dismissed for a three-ball duck. However, fellow opener Head combined with captain Mitchell Marsh to stitch a 113-run stand inside the powerplay to lay the perfect foundation for the chase, before Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis combined to close out the game in just 9.4 overs.
En route to the chase, Australia recorded the highest-ever powerplay score in T20I history, smashing 113 runs, which comprised 14 consecutive boundaries.
Highest PowerPlay score in T20Is
1) Australia 113/1 vs Scotland, 2024
2) South Africa 102/0 vs West Indies, 2023
3) West Indies 98/4 vs Sri Lanka, 2021
4) West Indies 93/0 vs Ireland, 2020
5) West Indies 92/1 vs Afghanistan, 2024
Travis Head scripts T20I world record
Head, adjudged as the Player of the Match, played the central role in the record and in the chase for Australia, hit an unbelievable 25-ball 80, laced with 12 boundaries and five sixes, at a strike rate of 320. 73 of those runs came in the first six overs of the match, which is the highest score by a batter inside the powerplay in T20I cricket, surpassing the previous record of a 25-ball 67 from Ireland’s Paul Stirling in 2020.
“Nice way to get underway, we loved our time here so far. I was a bit nervous, but nice to get some runs with the captain today. It has been a nice period for the last couple of years, really enjoying the environment and a few of us that have been around for a while and also loving the atmosphere with quite a few youngsters coming in,” he said in the post-match presentation.
The second T20I of the series will take place on September 6 at the same venue.