Australia clinched a four-run victory in the second Twenty20 to end the tourists' record-breaking winning streak at the MCG in Melbourne and level the two-match series 1-1.

The hosts' skipper Cameron White again elected to bat first on a sluggish wicket, and his side posted a total of 147 for seven courtesy of a breathless 53 off 33 balls from Aaron Finch.

England got off to a blistering start, racing to 60 without loss before a middle-order collapse saw Australia hit back through Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson.

Chris Woakes threatened to make himself the hero at the death for the second match in succession with a huge maximum off Brett Lee in the final over, but Tim Bresnan could only muster a single with six runs required off the last ball.

Watson was again in belligerent form at the top of the order alongside the equally uncompromising David Warner, but Woakes had the right-hander caught by Eoin Morgan.

Tim Paine smashed a lightning-quick 21 as he and Warner added further impetus to the hosts' innings, but the excellent spin duo of Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy - who each finished with figures of two for 19 - took the respective scalps.

Captain White then received a dubious lbw decision from a fellow Victorian, umpire Paul Reiffel, as Swann claimed his second wicket and the number five departed for a duck before David Hussey fell to Yardy for eight.

Steve Smith and Finch were decidedly subdued at the death in the opening fixture, but the latter hit his straps with a crushing half-century with four fours and two sixes to seize the initiative for the hosts in sparkling fashion.

England knew that a fast start was essential, and Ian Bell gave the tourists exactly that as the opener unfurled three glorious strokes to put Shaun Tait and Lee to the sword, but he was the first to fall for 39 as Johnson sent his middle stump cartwheeling with a rip-roaring yorker.

Kevin Pietersen lasted just three deliveries before he drove straight to White at short cover with a loose shot, and Paul Collingwood was desperately out of nick as he was sent back to the hutch by Watson having scratched around for six runs from 10 painstaking deliveries.

Steve Davies steadied the ship alongside Eoin Morgan before the opener was lured down the track to his subsequent demise by the faultless Watson, falling for a very respectable 29 off 26 deliveries.

Luke Wright, who has not been required to bowl all series, came in at number six and thrashed a typically swift 18, but he was dismissed by Tait whose searing pace wreaked havoc in a very mixed two spells.

The onus then fell on Bresnan and Woakes to produce a match-winning partnership at the death, and for a fleeting moment an improbable victory looked on the cards as the number eight launched a staggering 101m six over long on.

Seven runs were subsequently required from the final two deliveries, but Woakes was restricted to a single off the penultimate ball, before Bresnan could only muster one more as Lee held his composure to see Australia over the line.

England's record-breaking run of eight successive wins in Twenty20 internationals was therefore extinguished as the series ended 1-1, and Australia now have renewed hope ahead of the seven-match one-day international series which gets underway at the MCG on Sunday.

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport