As the England openers came to the crease, Bopara got off strike with the second ball, leaving T20I debutant Joe Denly to face Brett Lee. The Australian bowler pitched the ball short, and Denly managed to get his bat to it, only to top-edge to Nathan Hauritz at short square leg for a debut golden duck. Bopara himself was out with his next ball, the first of the second over, but rain called a halt to proceedings at that point, and England were saved from a looming defeat. Heavy rain prevented the start of the second T20I, with the umpires inspecting the pitch twice before deciding to abandon the match. Although the majority of the field was suitable for play, a small patch of turf at the Brian Statham End where the bowlers would have made their run-ups remained soft under foot, and the umpires and the captains made the determination that it would have been unsafe for play to commence. The England's captain, Andrew Strauss, won the toss and elected to field first. In the first innings Australia scored 260 for 5, Cameron White and Callum Ferguson scored half centuries, the highest score for both. In the second innings Strauss fell soon with only 12 runs, but Ravi Bopara scored 49 runs. In the 9th wicket Ryan Sidebottom and Adil Rashid scored 27 runs in 14 balls, but they need 32 for the victory. England won the toss, and Andrew Strauss chose to field. Callum Ferguson again scored a half century. Australia closed the innings with 249 for 8. In the second innings England opened with 74 runs in the first wicket (Ravi Bopara 27 and Andrew Strauss 44), but the next 9 wickets only scored 136 runs, and finally England lose the game but 39 runs. Paul Collingwood reached 4,000 runs in ODI (5th Englishman), and scored his 22nd Half century. Andrew Strauss won the toss for third time in the series, and elected to bat. Strauss scored 63 runs, his 17th half century, England scored 229 for 9. Cameron White scored his first century, and Michael Clarke his 36th half century. Both scored 143 runs in the 3rd wicket (Clarke 52 runs and White 86 runs), Clarke was bowled by Graeme Swann. Finally Australia reached the target with 6 wickets and 9 balls remaining. Ricky Ponting returned as Australian captain. Strauss won for fourth time the toss, and chose bat.