Australia v England - 1st T20 International 1876/7 to 1880 - Match Report

Australia v England - 1st T20 International 1876/7 to 1880 - Melbourne Cricket Ground

Pitch: 2 - Good Batting Wicket

Weather 1 - Hot and Humid

England won the toss, and with the wicket good, they elected to bat in the first ever international game in my replay history, dated January 1st, 1877, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Fred "The Demon" Spofforth was on fire early, opening the bowling at good pace, he tore through the top order to at one stage have figures of 3 for 9 off 3 overs.
Arthur Shrewsbury 32 and Allan Steel 24 repaired the damage in a steadying partnership, before a 5 wicket spell to medium pacer Harry Boyle reduced England to 82/8.
A hard hitting 30* off 17 balls to allrounder Billy Bates took England to 117/8 off their 20 overs, giving them something to defend going into the second half of the match.
Bates at one stage took 16 off an over by Spofforth, and hit 3 sixes in all.
Australia lost cheap wickets in reply, but a patient Horan, and a quicker Percy McDonnell repaired some of the damage.
McDonnell went on to an excellent 43*, and with support from the noted big hitter George Bonnor 31, took his team in sight of victory.
With 8 required from the last over, it was anyone's game.
Ulyett was hit for 4 off the 1st ball, but bowled Garrett off the 4th, to leave bowling hero Harry Boyle on strike with 4 required and 2 balls remaining.
Tragically for Ulyett he overstepped, bowling a no ball, which Boyle belted for 4, to give Australia a 3 wicket victory with 2 balls to spare.
Man of the Match Harry Boyle became an instant hero, having bowled his medium pace brilliantly earlier to take 5-16, and now strike the winning boundary to snatch the match from England's grasp.
Australia take a 1-0 lead into the 2nd match of the series, in Sydney.

Australia won by 3 wickets

Man of the Match: H.F.Boyle

England 1st Innings 117/8 Closed (Overs 20)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Min	Bls	4s	6s
RG Barlow		b FR Spofforth	0	2	3	0	0
WG Grace*	c AC Bannerman	b FR Spofforth	2	14	10	0	0
G Ulyett		b FR Spofforth	14	17	10	1	1
A Shrewsbury	c GE Palmer	b HF Boyle	33	37	29	3	1
AG Steel	lbw	b HF Boyle	24	52	26	3	0
W Barnes		b HF Boyle	0	4	3	0	0
WH Scotton	c JM Blackham	b HF Boyle	5	9	8	0	0
W Bates	not out		30	29	17	1	3
A Shaw		b HF Boyle	0	3	2	0	0
R Pilling+	not out		6	18	14	0	0
E Peate	dnb
extras		(b1 lb0 w1 nb1)	3
TOTAL		8 wickets for	117

FOW
1-0(RG Barlow) 2-11(WG Grace) 3-16(G Ulyett) 4-63(A Shrewsbury) 5-63(W Barnes)
6-71(WH Scotton) 7-82(AG Steel) 8-82(A Shaw)

Bowler	Overs	Maid	Runs	Wkts
FR Spofforth	4	1	25	3
TW Garrett	4	1	15	0
WE Midwinter	2	0	14	0
HF Boyle	4	0	16	5
GE Palmer	4	0	28	0
AC Bannerman	1	0	9	0
TP Horan	1	0	9	0

Australia 1st Innings 119/7 Closed (Overs 19.4)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Min	Bls	4s	6s
AC Bannerman	c A Shaw	b G Ulyett	8	3	3	2	0
JM Blackham+	c WG Grace	b G Ulyett	7	16	9	1	0
TP Horan	c RG Barlow	b E Peate	16	41	24	2	0
WL Murdoch*		b E Peate	0	9	3	0	0
PS McDonnell	not out		43	56	44	6	2
GJ Bonnor	c WG Grace	b E Peate	31	24	25	3	2
WE Midwinter	c WH Scotton	b E Peate	1	9	6	0	0
TW Garrett		b G Ulyett	7	4	4	1	0
HF Boyle	not out		4	0	2	1	0
GE Palmer	dnb
FR Spofforth	dnb
extras		(b0 lb0 w0 nb2)	2
TOTAL		7 wickets for	119

FOW
1-8(AC Bannerman) 2-15(JM Blackham) 3-21(WL Murdoch) 4-59(TP Horan) 5-99(GJ Bonner)
6-107(WE Midwinter) 7-114(TW Garrett)

Bowler	Overs	Maid	Runs	Wkts
G Ulyett	3.4	0	34	3
W Barnes	3	0	10	0
A Shaw	4	0	13	0
E Peate	4	0	24	4
W Bates	2	0	12	0
AG Steel	1	0	8	0
RG Barlow	1	0	9	0
WG Grace	1	0	9	0