Australia’s Travis Head and Mitch Marsh delivered a record-breaking performance during their T20 match against Scotland, kicking off their UK tour with a decisive win that saw them finish with over half their overs remaining.
Head scored an explosive 80 runs off just 25 balls, while Marsh contributed 39 runs in 12 deliveries. Together, they achieved a remarkable total of 113 runs in the powerplay, surpassing the previous record of 102 runs set by South Africa against the West Indies last year.
This strong start allowed Australia to comfortably chase down Scotland’s target of 155 runs in the first of three T20 matches at Grange, Edinburgh.
The excitement came despite a disappointing debut for Jake Fraser-McGurk, who was dismissed for a duck on just his third ball. Marsh’s early innings included a well-placed shot that narrowly evaded a fielder, but any hopes Scotland had for an upset were quickly dashed.
Head’s aggressive batting included three boundaries in one over, and he reached 47 runs off 16 balls through a series of fours and sixes. Marsh, filling in as captain for the rested Pat Cummins, joined in with a flurry of runs, hitting a sequence of sixes and fours in the sixth over.
In the following over, Head continued his assault, reaching his half-century in just 17 balls, matching Marcus Stoinis’ record for the fastest T20 international fifty for Australia. However, Marsh was caught on the very next delivery, bowled by Mark Watt.
Watt’s unconventional bowling style caused a brief controversy when a delivery to Josh Inglis was ruled a dead ball, a decision later confirmed by the MCC. Head was caught shortly after, having hit five sixes during his innings, but the outcome was already clear. Inglis (27 off 13) and Stoinis (eight off five) finished the chase.
Earlier, Australia’s bowlers, many of whom were inexperienced at the international level, quickly adapted to the conditions. Despite Scotland racing to 46 runs in their first five overs, the Australian bowlers tightened their grip, with Sean Abbott taking 3 wickets for 39 runs and Xavier Bartlett standing out with figures of 2 for 23.
Marsh opted to field first and utilized six bowlers. Adam Zampa (2-33) and Riley Meredith (2-34) completed their full overs, while Cam Green (1-12) and Stoinis (0-10) contributed as well. Bartlett made an early impact, dismissing Oli Hairs with a catch by Marsh.
Despite George Munsey’s three sixes, Scotland struggled to build a significant score after Inglis executed a spectacular catch off Abbott to dismiss Munsey for 28 runs. Bartlett later claimed the wicket of Brandon McMullen (19 off 22) with another catch from debutant Fraser-McGurk.
This match marks the first of eleven on Australia’s tour, which will include three T20s and five ODIs against England.