Head fires Australia to record against Scotland, but Fraser-McGurk fails

Travis Head and Mitch Marsh set a world record for a T20 international powerplay score with a brutal display of batting. Australia began their white-ball tour of the UK by beating Scotland with more than half the overs remaining.

Head scored 80 in 25 balls and Marsh 39 in 12. The duo made 113 in the six-over powerplay, surpassing South Africa’s 102 against West Indies last year.

This allowed Australia to overtake Scotland’s 9-154 in the first of three T20s at the Grange, Edinburgh, in 9.4 overs.

But the attack came after Jake Fraser-McGurk’s long-awaited debut ended in failure, with the youngster caught for a duck-ball on the third ball and hitting the ball out to mid-wicket.

Marsh fired Brandon McMullen’s next ball just past Gully’s outstretched right hand, but if that gave Scotland any hope of a surprise, those hopes were quickly dashed.

Head scored three boundaries in the next over, two fours and two sixes in the third over and two fours and a six in the fourth over to take his tally to 47 from 16 balls.

At this point Marsh had made eight out of five, now the skipper, coming on for the rested Pat Cummins, joined in. In the fifth over he hit 6,6,4,6,4,4.

Then it was Head’s turn again. He went 4,6,4,4,4,4, equalling Marcus Stoinis’ Australian record for the fastest T20i 50, which he achieved on his 17th ball.