Aussies smash England at the 'G

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Watch: Highlights of White's fifty

Watch: Hodge's eventful innings in field

Read: Southern Stars trounce England

Australia have made it a trifecta of series victories over England this summer, needing just two T20 internationals to win the series and doing so convincingly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground – by eight wickets and with 31 balls to spare.

Set a lowly 131 to win, it took Cameron White all of 11 balls to ensure England were under absolutely no illusions that they were walking the green mile toward an 11th defeat at the hands of a merciless host.

By that point, White had already put five deliveries to the boundary, and the scoreline read a rather bizarre: White 24, Finch 0, Australia 0-24.

It was precisely the kind of furious start England would have been desperate to avoid, though captain Broad couldn’t scout around his field for scapegoats, as the second, third and fifth balls of his opening over were crunched over wide mid off, cheekily guided past first slip, and sent away behind square for boundaries.

White didn’t let up. The first ball from Jade Dernbach – who had copped such a hammering in Hobart – was promptly despatched through cover, the third pulled through midwicket for four more.

And just like that, Australia were ahead in terms of runs required from balls faced.

It took an inspired spell to all-too briefly resurrect the tourists. Tim Bresnan was the man. Replacing the errant Dernbach, the right-armer cajoled an otherwise flatlining pitch into life. It brought about the wicket of Finch (10) with the score at 48, as the Victorian failed to deal with one cutting in off the pitch and was duly adjudged adjacent to the pegs.

With Bresnan’s first two overs costing just three runs, new man Glenn Maxwell (the third Victorian to the crease from as many batsmen in a memorable evening for the locals) duly succumbed to what was perhaps a misguided pressure to push the run rate, holing out for two to deep backward square leg from the darting off-spin of James Tredwell.

Australia captain George Bailey ended the run of Victorians and refused to let the innings stagnate for long, lofting Tredwell over long-on for the first six of the match from just the seventh ball he faced.

By this point, White was in cruise mode. As if having already fulfilled the brief of enthralling the masses, he set his mind to the task of accumulating singles, with victory the greater good at the forefront of his mind.

Shortly after Bailey’s arrival at the crease, Broad returned to the attack. Whether it was with the belief that his very presence could con the opposing skipper into revisiting some of his Ashes shortfalls, or simply one last desperate roll of the dice, it very nearly worked.

Broad hurried one past him and followed it up with a snorter that was too quick for the batsman, who could only manage a top edge. But as has been the way this summer, luck was wearing green and gold, and the ball sailed above wicketkeeper Jos Buttler’s head and down to the ropes for four.

Having survived Broad, normal service was quickly restored, to the tune of 18 (one six, three fours) from the very next Dernbach over.

The Bailey savagery brought up the hundred at the end of the 12th over, and three balls into the 13th, White brought up a second consecutive 50, this one from just 38 balls.

Bailey was moments behind him, raising his bat the following over as five fours and three sixes helped him reach the half-century mark in a lightning-fast 24 deliveries.

The win was achieved a short time later, with White (67 from 45) and Bailey (60 from 28) both unbeaten, and the only gripe the crowd of 64,385 could possibly have had was that favourite son Brad Hodge hadn’t received an opportunity to show his wares with the bat.

That said, perhaps Bailey’s superpowers extend beyond six-hitting and into Nostradamus territory. It appears as valid a reason as any for his amazing decision to open the match with Hodge’s innocuous off-spin.

Even England’s opening pair, Alex Hales and Michael Lumb, was momentarily flummoxed, with Hodge’s first three balls costing him just a single. Such confusion was quickly overcome however, as the fourth and and fifth balls were sent to the cover point and backward square boundaries respectively by Sydney Sixer Lumb.

Almost as quickly, Bailey did away with the experiment, replacing Hodge after one over – but it would be far from the last supporters would see of the greying Victorian who, for the record, is yet to take a wicket in his eight T20 internationals to date.

Bailey replaced Hodge with another surprise – fit again paceman Mitchell Starc - who returned to national colours for the first time since the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval in 2013.

Finding his line immediately, Starc might have had the wicket of Hales with his fourth ball, but Maxwell uncharacteristically put down a simple chance at point when the Englishman was just two.

The spilt chance didn’t prove overly costly, as the wickets fell in regular intervals, and as England’s batsmen rotated in and out of the changeroom, Bailey did likewise with his bowlers, utilising no fewer than seven of his side in the opening eight overs.

But it was in the field as opposed to any clever change in trundler that the magic happened.

Inevitably, it was – guess who – Hodge at the centre of the first of two excellent run-outs.

As Joe Root pushed one toward extra cover and took off for a quick single, his partner Eoin Morgan was a step off the pace. It was all the sprightly cover fieldsman needed. Belying his age, Hodge sprung to his left, gathered cleanly, and aimed a wristy flick towards the stumps.

It was never missing.

The question mark over the dismissal came with the grounding of Morgan’s bat, as the impact of full length dive caused the blade to bounce. As he slid, it appeared to bounce again, and just like in Adelaide last Friday night, keeper Matthew Wade luckily timed his removal of the bails perfectly, and the wicket was Australia’s.

The dismissal seemed to invigorate Australia in the field.

At 4-55 and with the dangerous Morgan in the pavilion, Maxwell took it upon himself to follow Hodge’s lead with his own slice of brilliance in the field, running out Root after surging in from deep midwicket.

The one spinner in the side was actually the third tweaker called upon to bowl, but when he got his opportunity from the ninth over, James Muirhead didn’t disappoint.

Muirhead pitched a couple short, a couple wide, but generally warmed to his task superbly, returning the figures of 1-15 and impressing with his accuracy, turn and increasing confidence.

A break from spin and the return of Coulter-Nile to the attack immediately paid dividends for the skipper, with the West Australian cutting one into the pads of Jos Buttler (23).

As England’s last recognised batsman trudged off the pitch, it was Broad who joined Tim Bresnan at the crease. To their credit, the pair dug in, put a price on their wickets, ran hard and lashed at what they could. 

The result was the most meaningful partnership (34) of the innings, but ultimately, invariably, it was nowhere near enough to spare England’s blushes. 

Player of the match Josh Hazlewood put the boot in with the final two balls of the innings, knocking over the stumps on each occasion to finish with four wickets and complete another miserable effort from the tourists.