Dawid Malan’s blast helps England to T20 series victory over Australia

Perhaps fittingly for a series sponsored by a popular brand of antiseptic, Australia’s second T20 against England proceeded as if everything about the first had been wiped clean. Where runs had come in floods here they trickled, where openers had thrived here they toiled, but once again England batted first, won by eight runs, and if nothing else they will return from Australia bearing the Dettol Trophy, a scarily spiky piece of silverware that must on no account be sat on.

Few could have savoured, or indeed embodied the contrasts between the games as much as Dawid Malan, who from his nominal position of three slid so far down England’s order in the first game in Perth that he ended up facing only two balls, but here came in as scheduled and gathered the game like a miscreant schoolboy by the scruff of the neck. His innings of 82 off 49 proved decisive.

This win, against an Australia side at full strength with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell all restored to the team after not travelling to Perth, will have been both sweeter and more encouraging for the tourists. It also included a moment of genuinely breathtaking magnificence.

It is a rare that the most memorable act of any match is not a shot, nor a wicket, but a humble piece of fielding. What Ben Stokes produced in the 12th over of Australia’s innings would more sensibly be described as regal, an instant of skill, coordination, athleticism and awareness that turned what would have been a Mitch Marsh six into a two, earned a standing ovation from the fans located nearby and the slack-jawed awe of many watching on television or as the clip was circulated excitedly around the internet. The ball was already over the rope when