Travis Head made a valuable 59 and leg-spinner Adam Zampa took two cheap wickets as Australia beat England by 28 runs in the first T20 international at Southampton on Wednesday.

Opening batsman Head's quickfire innings was the cornerstone of Australia's seemingly below-par 179 all out.

But with Zampa taking an economical 2-20 in a match where England's slow bowlers also impressed, it was more than enough as the hosts were dismissed for 151 to leave Australia 1-0 up in a three-match series.

"It was a nice start," said player-of-the-match Head at the presentation ceremony. "For me it was about using the pace well which I think I did."

"Everything was good about captaincy, apart from the result," said stand-in England captain Phil Salt, who was leading the team in place of the injured Jos Buttler.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh praised Head and opening partner Matthew Short for their "exciting" start before also lauding Zampa and experienced fast bowler Josh Hazlewood.

"We're lucky to have guys like Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood in our team, especially for some of our younger guys to learn from," he said. "I went back to them and they both applied the pressure when needed." (AFP)