ICC: England Set Twenty20 Record With Victory Over Australia

England had to wait until the final over with the last pair at the crease to seal a one wicket win against Australia in the first Twenty20 international in Adelaide.

The win means England now stand alone with eight consecutive Twenty20 matches won, but they made hard work of it after seemingly cruising.

Before the cricket, a minute's silence was held with the players wearing black armbands in remembrance of those that have died in the floods in parts of South East Queensland.

England and Australia players collected money from the crowd during the game, both teams will donate part of there match fees to help the relief effort and Kevin Pietersen has offered to auction a shirt and bat used during the Ashes series to raise money.

On the field, Australia made 157-4 in their 20 overs. Shane Watson, who is from Ipswich, one of the areas worst hit by the floods, smashed 59 from 31 balls but England never let the home side get away.

David Warner made 30 from 28 balls, David Hussey 28-from-27, Cameron White 6-from-9 and Aaron Finch and Steven Smith both finished 15 not out.

Michael Yardy was pick of the bowlers with 2-28, Tim Bresnan took 1-28 and Chris Woakes 1-34. Ajmal Shahzad recorded 0-25 and Graeme Swann 0-40, after going for 26 runs in his first over.

England went aggressive from the start with Brett Lee and Shaun Tait bowling in excess of 90MPH, but Australia picked up regular wickets to keep them in the hunt.

In the end, it went down to the final ball with debutant Chis Woakes hitting the winning run with the final pair of the crease.

Eoin Morgan helped England home with his 43 from 33 balls, Ian Bell made a lively 27 from 17 balls, but was dropped twice, including the first ball of the innings, Pietersen made a quickfire 25, but Woakes's 19 from 15 balls was the key to England winning the game.

Steve Davies (4), Luke Wright (0), Michael Yardy (0), Swann (6) all fell cheaply, but Tim Bresnan (11) and Paul Collingwood (16) helped England squeeze home.  

Man of the match Shane Watson took 4-15, David Hussey 1-14, Steve O'Keefe 1-16, Mitchell Johnson 1-27, but Lee (1-41) and Tait (1-40) went around the park.

England now have the world record of consecutive Twenty20 victories after the narrow win while Australia can take heart from some good performances in looking to draw the series in the next match.

The second and final Twenty20 match in Melbourne starts on January 14 before seven one-day matches in preparation for the World Cup.