Australia moved into a comfortable position at the end of the second day of the fifth Ashes Test match against England, and it should be comfortable enough to carve out their fifth successive win in this series. We’ll have live scores and updates from 10.30am AEDT.
England’s batting story was on expected lines. There were a few, minor twists from what we have seen in the series so far but none of them were grave enough to save them from what seems like a sure-shot shelling.
Resuming at 1/8, it took Australia just two balls to send back their captain Alastair Cook and it was to another of those excellent deliveries from Ryan Harris. That was the seventh time in his career that Harris dismissed him and the mode of his dismissal spoke volumes about how badly things have gone wrong for Cook and his team.
Attempting to leave one outside the off-stump, Cook was rapped on his pads and the umpire had no difficulty giving him out.
2/8 soon became 5/23 when Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell also joined their captain back in the pavillion and the writing was on the wall.
Ben Stokes, who had scored a century in Perth and followed it up with a six-wicket haul in the first innings in Sydney, was their sole saving grace, as he crept close to another half-century before being bowled by Peter Siddle.
His batting was as close as it could get to the way one needed to bat on this pitch – the good deliveries were defended and the relatively, not-so-good ones were taken advantage of, either with the batsman rotating the strike or crashing through the in-field.
Stuart Broad’s fighting 30 came off 22 balls and it was his batting with the last man Boyd Rankin that took England over the follow-on mark. Still, Australia came away with a 171-run lead, a huge one given the conditions.
Australia were always going to come out attacking in their second innings and they did not deviate from that brand of cricket.
Four wickets were lost in the process of doing that but Chris Rogers followed up his century in Melbourne with an unbeaten 73 and pulled the side out of trouble – much like in the first innings, they had lost four wickets for 91 when George Bailey came in.
Bailey may not be a certainty in the playing 11 for the South Africa Tests even if he scored a century here but if he can get there on the third day, it will enhance his chances a great deal.
The pitch, incidentally, isn’t the best to bat on, and the extra bounce and the sometimes difference in pace could be a cause for a lot of heartache for the batsmen come the third day.
This is why, armed with a lead of 311 already, Australia are well and truly on top at this stage. Even if they are subjected to another of those collapses this series has seen, a target of 400 does not look too far.
Given England have topped 300 only two times out of nine and have been bowled out for sub-200 scores on five separate occasions, we all know which way this would be headed come the fourth innings.
A 5-0 whitewash beckons, just a matter of when.
Join me for the third day of the fifth Ashes 2013-14 Test on Saturday and you can follow the live score of this game from 10.00 am AEDT and post your comments below.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks Nudge & Zee. I will be calling a few of the ODIs before taking a week off.
Squirrel
Guest
They just did not want to be here and play. They will get their hunger back and probably clean up this year. I've never seen a side not turn up and want to play like this team, it was a first for me. No desire whatsoever from a very talented English side. Cook must have just said lets get the hell out of here, my shout at the bar,
Nudge
Guest
Yep, outstanding Suneer, thanks
Zee
Roar Guru
+ 1 You've been a fabulous commentator. Well done. Will you be back for the ODI's?
Zee
Roar Guru
What an utterly emotional, beautiful, sensational and exhilarating day. Honestly greatest sporting match I've been too. I cheered, shed a tear, and went utterly nuts. What a day to complete the whitewash,with the beautiful Jane McGrath looking down on us. Thank You Boof, Thank You Clarkey, Thank You to those Beautiful 10 in Baggy Green who never let us down, and resurrected the romance of test cricket in Australia. And I'd happily console Alistair Cook, tough road ahead for the Poms. AUSTRALIAAA YOU ---------- BEAUTTYYY
Magic Sponge
Guest
Hope the poms donated their earnings to the Barmy army as I'm sure the best 11 of the Barmy army could have done better
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
And here's another:
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Here's a picture that will remain etched in many minds:
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks for following Sandy!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks James, Chui & WB, enjoyed following the series with you all!
Johnno
Guest
Gone Cook batter only sack him as captain Carberry Trott already gone Prior already gone Swann already gone Tremlett already gone KP I still have doubts if the hunger is there for test cricket or the body, he has knee problems Anderson very dicy too Panasar gone Borthwick not up to this level yet Rankin about 29 or 30, not up to this level England 2015 side gonna be much different
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks for following jeznez!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks mate, echo your sentiments, has been great following it with everyone so passionate about the game!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks Tatah, equally enjoyed calling it!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
So that's it from me for now, it has been a lot of fun calling the series, and even more fun receiving all your comments, feedback and being a part of some excellent cricket chat. I will be back for a few of the BBL games and then the ODIs. In case you are on twitter, you can give me a shout @suneerchowdhary Till then, have a great time ahead, ciao ciao!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Australia have played like champions but here's a thought. In one of those leaked documents from Mickey Arthur, one of the tactics that was supposed to be used was to use the series in England as a 'recon mission' and try and win back the urn in Australia. Whether or not that was really the case, Arthur's purported strategy seems to have paid off well... ...but without him being around. Darren Lehmann did an excellent job with his team and one of the first things he instilled in the side was stability. He saw the signs that the team had done well in England despite going down 3-0 and maintained the faith in them. Mitchell Johnson was one of the few who got a chance here, as did George Bailey. The rest were all a part of the side that went down in England. This was missing earlier. Australia take on England in the five-match ODI series and would love to continue this momentum. The good news for them is that around 10 of the players in the English Test squad also make it to the ODI team, which will allow them to maintain their hold, with the scarring still so fresh. Beyond the ODIs and the T20Is, there's that Test series in South Africa that all have been waiting for. I must say, just like it was a dampener to have South Africa host India for a two-match series, a South Africa-Australia series deserves at least four games. What Australia can expect in South Africa is a much better bowling attack from South Africa than they faced against England. Bowling-wise, if both teams remain fit and judging by their current forms, there won't be much to choose from between the two. Where things could get different is the batting. Australia showed signs of improvement but there were equal signs of there being a little bit of brittleness as well, that England failed to exploit. South Africa have the attack to do just that. South Africa, on their part, have some amazing batting in their top six, which has been recently weakened by the retirement of Jacques Kallis - so that's the one teeny-weeny plus Australia start with. Expect it to be a very hard-fought one, closer than this one for sure, although that's what most of us thought would be the case here. I, for one, had predicted a 2-2 draw, but that's what momentum can do sometimes. In a way, a three-match series, in South Africa, will not allow for that to happen.
Tatah
Guest
Fantastic calling throughout the ashes Suneer. Really enjoyed it.
Jo M
Guest
Before the start and I think it was 50/1. It was only a joke really and yes he is buying champers. Good thing I have the day off tomorrow.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Wow, did you do that before the start of the series? Or was it somewhere in the middle? Start of the series would be 50/1 odds or something!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thank you for the kind words Sideline Comm.! Glad to have you following the blog too...