Australia Consign England to Nine-run T20 Defeat

Australia continued England's misery in all formats after a 13-run win in the first T20 international in Hobart.

Aaron Finch (52) and Cameron White (75) put on 106 for the first wicket as the hosts finished on 213 for 4 from their 20 overs as Jade Dernbach and Danny Briggs were sent to all parts of the Bellerive Oval.

England, who had never successfully chased over 200 in T20 international history faced a daunting task to take the initiative in the series and lost early wickets as Michael Lumb (9) and Luke Wright (9) both failed.

Though Ravi Bopara made the fastest half century by an England player in T20 internationals amid a knock of 65 from 27 balls, constant wickets around him stemmed the flow and saw them finish on 200 for 9 as Australia prevail.

Glenn Maxwell's side take a 1-0 series lead with two matches of the tour remaining as Australia attempt to win a third series in a row against England.

Despite making a host of changes from their Test and one-day campaigns, England produced another sub-standard performance which would have been more emphatic had it not been for Bopara's career-best late cameo.

They travel to Melbourne on Friday and Sydney on Sunday in the remaining two matches hoping to end the tour on a winning note while Australia will be sensing blood.

England captain Stuart Broad said: "I didn't think 213 was actually too many. When you've got big powerful hitters targeting a short boundary it's hard to keep the run-rate below 10.

"We didn't lay a platform to give ourselves the best chance. We didn't play as well as we could have done. Scoreboard pressure played a big part and you're always going to feel the pressure.

"We've come back from losses and hopefully we'll do that at the MCG. We could have taken our catches, that was important and that's happened all year. In Tests last year we dropped 35 catches and we need to iron that out."