Summary

  • Second T20, Sophia Gardens

  • England chase 194 to level three-match series at 1-1

  • Livingstone hits brilliant 87 off 47 balls & Bethell makes fine 44 off 24; Short takes 5-22

  • Australia 193-6: Fraser-McGurk 50 (31); Livingstone 2-16, Carse 2-26

  • Decider live on BBC One at Old Trafford on Sunday

  • Watch highlights at 23:05 BST on BBC Two and iPlayer

Live Reporting

by Tom Mallows & Mike Peter

  1. Aus 15-0

    Short makes it back to back fours with a drive down the ground, before Topley closes the over with two dot balls.

    A handy start for Australia.

  2. Steven Finn
    Former England fast bowler on BBC Test Match Special

    It looked like Will Jacks was trying to catch bubbles there, with both hands grasping at thin air.

  3. Aus 11-0

    Close!

    Topley draws a thick edge bowling across Short's body and the ball flies just over the head of the diving Will Jacks at short third.

    Was that a chance? It would have been an absolute stunner.

  4. Henry Moeran
    Commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

    That has gone bouncing out of the ground. What a fabulous pick-up shot.

  5. 6 runs

    Aus 7-0

    Short hits Topley for first six of the evening

    Goes big early!

    Having left a leg side wide alone, Short picks Topley's next delivery perfectly and pulls him away on the swivel for the game's first six.

    Ball lost out the ground, we'll need a new one already.

  6. Geoff Lemon
    Test Match Special commentator on BBC Sounds

    Australia were impressive but it was one those weird nights where no one could to grips with the pitch apart from Travis Head. So it was difficult to get a read on whether it was good batting or bad bowling.

    Cooper Connolly comes in but as a specialist spinner rather than a batter. Aaron Hardie is effectively being played as a specialist quick as they are so well-stocked with all-rounders. Jake Fraser-McGurk also comes in but not to open, at first drop. So it is an interesting mish-mash of a team with players out of position just to shoehorn them in.

  7. Steven Finn
    Former England fast bowler on BBC Test Match Special

    Brydon Carse has had that bit of time out with the betting ban, so when you come in and have not played too much cricket it is difficult to game up with the pace of the game. So his first challenge is to really hit his straps with his first delivery and make his mark on the game.

    The T20 format can be tricky to feel yourself into. But when he gets it right he hits the crease hard, gets an angle into the right-handers, which is good in T20 cricket. He also has pace and gets good bounce from the back of a length.

  8. Aus 0-0

    A shout straight away?

    Topley strikes Matthew Short on the pad with his first ball and goes up for an appeal.

    Nothing from the umpire and England won't review - the right decision, it was pitching outside leg.

  9. Right, time to get going in Cardiff.

    Reece Topley has the ball in hand.

  10. Steven Finn
    Former England fast bowler on BBC Test Match Special

    By winning the toss and bowling first England have given themselves a chance to right the wrongs of the other night, when Travis Head went berserk inside those first six overs and basically won the game.

    It looks like a good surface. The bowling attack is under a bit of pressure with Jofra Archer not playing. But those short, straight boundaries is why they are batting second.

  11. How's stat?!

    Going back to my opening post, since the 2009 Ashes draw, England have beaten Australia in one Test, three ODIs and one T20 in South Wales.

    The visitors do have a victory in Cardiff, beating Pakistan in a triangular ODI series in 2001.

    Meanwhile, England have an excellent record here in the shortest format, winning eight of their nine matches.

    Mind you, their only defeat was their most recent game here - a 58-run loss to South Africa two years ago.

  12. The weather

    We don't always have the best of luck weather-wise when England are playing in Cardiff. But there is no wet stuff in the forecast this evening so we should get a full game in.

    Cardiff weather

  13. BBC coverage of England v Australia

    BBC Test Match Special

    You can listen to ball-by-ball coverage of tonight's game on 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds. You can also listen by clicking the play button at the top of this page.

    We will bring you in-game clips right here on BBC Sport website and app as part of our live text coverage. There is also a full highlights show on BBC 2 and the iPlayer from 23:05 BST.

    Don't forget the third T20 from Old Trafford is live on BBC One on Sunday from 14:00 BST.

  14. Ben Jones
    CricViz analyst

    Jake Fraser-McGurk returns to the Australian side - he's struggled since his breakthrough in the IPL for Delhi Capitals.

    In 10 T20 innings - for Australia and San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket - he's averaged just 9.70, striking at 112.

  15. Teams

    England: Phil Salt (c, wk), Will Jacks, Jordan Cox, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Reece Topley

    Australia: Matt Short, Travis Head (c), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Adam Zampa

    Changes in both line-ups tonight. England's only swap is to bring in Brydon Carse, who'll play his first international since his ban for betting offences, for the rested Jofra Archer.

    For Australia, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie and Cooper Connolly come in for the ailing Mitchell Marsh, Xavier Bartlett, who was injured in the first T20, and Josh Hazlewood.

  16. Australia captain Travis Head, captain Australia for the first time in place of Mitchell Marsh: "Mitch is a bit sick, so night at the hotel.

    "It's nice to fill-in, all hands on deck, that squad mentality is going to be needed tonight.

    "We want to keep our intent, we talk about that as a team. We've got some amazing hitters in the middle, hopefully our boys can dominate."

  17. England captain Phil Salt: It looks like a wicket where we would like to have a look at them first."

    What needs to change from first T20: "We need to extend our partnerships. We got to the point where we needed 50 off 30 but lost a few too many wickets. We want to go out there, express ourselves and get in a better position."

    On playing younger, more inexperienced players: "The number of caps in the team has gone down but as professionals we still have high expectations."

    Team news: "Brydon Carse comes in for Jofra Archer. We are just trying to manage his workload. Every game he plays for England he tries his heart out."

  18. England win the toss and bowl

    England captain Phil Salt wins the toss in sunny Cardiff and decides to have a bowl.

    It's the same outcome as Wednesday's first T20 at Southampton, where England chose to chase and came up 28 runs short.

    That hasn't deterred England, and they'll go again in the decisive game in this three-match series.

  19. Good evening

    Let's go back to 2009.

    Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar put on a display of obdurate batting to frustrate Australia in the first Ashes Test at Sophia Gardens.

    It set down a marker - in the 15 years since, Australia have never beaten England in a match here.

    Can they change that tonight?

    It's the second T20 international - welcome to Fortress Cardiff.