Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales provided a timely reminder of his t20 prowess, top-scoring with 52 in England's nine-run ICC World Twenty20 warm-up win against Australia.

Hales, who holds the record for the best ever international score by an England batsman in the format following his 99 against West Indies at Trent Bridge, opened the batting alongside Craig Kieswetter and seems a decent bet to keep his place when the competitive action begins against Afghanistan on Friday.

"It's a great way to start the warm-up to this tournament," said Hales.

"It's nice to get some runs under your belt in the first warm-up game. It is a very different challenge to what we're used to in England, but I think the deck was a lot better than everyone expected.

"It came on to the bat nicely, but I think 170 was a pretty good score out there."

England face Pakistan in another warm-up fixture in Colombo on Wednesday and conclude the group stage against India on Sunday.