He had overcome a no-ball from his first delivery, which saw Phil Salt taken at mid-off by captain Mitchell Marsh who had not heard the call and started to celebrate, to claim the wicket of Jordan Cox later in the powerplay. In a rare sight of a quick operating unchanged in a T20, Bartlett was given his four overs off the reel by Marsh as he extracted swing on a cold night but aborted his attempt to complete his last two deliveries.
If, as seems likely, Bartlett’s tour is over it would add to the loss of Spencer Johnson (side) and Nathan Ellis (hamstring) from the trip. Riley Meredith, who had been called up for the Scotland series after Josh Hazlewood’s calf injury, was retained for the England T20 matches after Ellis was ruled out with an injury initially sustained in the Hundred.
Bartlett’s injury opens up the prospect of Meredith coming into the side for the second T20I in Cardiff on Friday. Allrounders Aaron Hardie and Cooper Connolly are the other options.
Bartlett had not been due to be part of the ODI leg despite bursting onto the scene with consecutive four-wicket hauls against West Indies earlier this year. A side injury would likely put him in doubt for the start of the domestic season with Queensland with the Marsh Cup beginning later this month before the Sheffield Shield starts in early October.
Hazlewood made an impressive return to action in Southampton with 2 for 32 from his four overs which included the key wicket of Liam Livingstone who had threatened to bring England back into the contest. He and Mitchell Starc will be part of the one-day series but Pat Cummins is missing the whole tour to work on strength and condition ahead of the home summer.