Rain played havoc for a couple of hours but Steven Smith and the rest of the lower-order lit up the day for Australia with some cracking batting on a docile Oval pitch in the fifth Ashes Test against England. We’ll have live scores and commentary from 8.00pm AEST.
The second day was going to be about England needing early wickets as compared to Australia looking to see off the second new ball and then piling on the runs.
What was not imagined in the script was inclement weather.
It seemed like the play would begin on time despite moist conditions a hour before the start but it began raining just moments before play could start.
Early lunch was taken and nearly 30 overs were lost in the day before the teams could resume play.
Following the early loss of Peter Siddle, Steven Smith and Brad Haddin stalled the English hopes of picking up wickets in a heap.
Haddin did get out to the part-time bowling of Jonathon Trott but by then Smith had brought up his maiden Test century. It meant he could cut loose immediately after tea.
The lower-order comprising of James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc and Ryan Harris did not hold back either as Australia scored at more than eight an over for their near-100 runs.
The declaration, which was in line with Clarke’s aggressive captaincy, came with about 90 minutes remaining.
While the easy-paced pitch, combined with some doughty batting from the English openers allowed them to go through to the end of the day without loss, they will need a massive batting effort on the third day.
The pitch has shown no sign of deterioration so far and the spinners may not come into play yet, nor will it reverse swing as much.
If England can bat through the day without losing too many, much like they had on the third day at Old Trafford, their chances of escaping unscathed will brighten considerably.
If, on the other hand, Australia can get early wickets and expose the soft English middle, things could get interesting for them for the rest of the game.
khoji pandit
Guest
shame on austrelia..shame on clarke..while on the verge of losing 5th test they did bad-light appeal...deren lehmen should be dismissed n punished for saying that aussi-crowd should hoot an english player( broad) while english team go to austrelia for playing..austrelians want to win..maximum by cheating,intimidating the umpires n sledging..change urself aussies.. donot repeat again ponting n sydney test against india...
Calum
Guest
Thanks suneer. Never know, something could happen yet in this game. Adelaide is an example of a deck that people suggest is too slow but throws up great finishes on a regular basis. Unfortunately main issue is with the weather, time will be lost and because it is not hot and sunny the pitch won't deteriorate as much.
JimmyB
Guest
Cheers Suneer
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks mate.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
So England's strategy was simple. To not allow Australia a sniff. At the expense of playing for a win. Two sides to every coins and while there are some who would want them to play for a win, there will be others who will be content with England's display today. It was slow going and there were passages of play, especially the last 10 or so overs, which was painful to watch. Australia, on their part, threw almost everything at them but England batted well in line with their strategy. The highest strike-rate of the day belonged to Kevin Pietersen, as expected, and it was 37 per 100 balls. Starc grabbed two wickets, Harris and Lyon got one. Lyon bowled well I thought and controlled things nicely. Got it to spin and bounce but did not have the pace from the pitch to exploit it. Wonder whether the focus of the talks will move from England's approach to the nature of the pitch in the next couple of days if it does not deteriorate enough? That's it from me, will be back tomorrow for the penultimate day of Test match.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
That's the end of that. 98 overs. 215 runs. Four wickets. Bell and Woakes not-out.
Tom from Perth
Guest
Gotta love Warnie. Cheers for the coverage Suneer.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Darren Gough in the ground too. Loved watching him bowl, his effervescence was quite infectious.
Tom from Perth
Guest
Haha, nah I was just wondering because I haven't seen him bowl for a long time. I wouldn't even think of giving him a bowl now before Watson and Clarkey get a spell! haha
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Another half hour and you will be wanting Rogers and Haddin to bowl too Tom?!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Maiden again. Four in a row. Some talk from Warne about him learning from former coach and his 'favourite' John Buchanan that teams have 85% more chance of getting a wicket if they bowl four successive maidens. As respectful as Warne is, he also adds that's the only thing he learned from Buchanan. I can imagine.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
I am really surprised that a thing like this can evoke such a contrasting emotion. There's one great who absolutely revered it, there's another who is/was quite, quite the opposite.
Tom from Perth
Guest
So have we given up on completely on Warner's leggies then?
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Playing for time now. As they have been through the day. Lyon's bowled a maiden. Four to go. 4/245 in 112.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
You're a reliable sort Jimmy. The baggy green is definitely a symbol of Australian pride and I was surprised to hear Warne disparage it earlier. Funnily enough if you read that Atherton piece to which Suneer linked you will find that Chappelli made comments then almost identical to Warne's today. It would not be the first time Warne has parroted one of his main mentors.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Smith bowls a maiden and with five more to go, it's Lyon continuing. 4/245 in 111
Tom from Perth
Guest
Good to see Smith getting some bowls. He's had a few turn a lot. Another pie just then haha rank full toss.
Tom from Perth
Guest
Second highest? Wow. I don't follow the IPL any more but I liked him in the Champion's Trophy. I can't see him starting in the next Ashes though.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
And even as I say that, one of the umpires has his light-meter out. England 4/245 in 110. Smith comes on. Probably because of the light.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
By the looks of it on TV, they are playing in very dark conditions.