England claimed the advantage on Day 1 of the third Ashes Test against Australia and will now need to cement their place in the driver’s seat on the second day at Edgbaston. You can follow live scores and a blog of Day 2 of this second Ashes Test from 8:00pm AEST.
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Rain had its say on the opening day of the game but it was the England bowling that did all the talking. And it did not elicit the kind of response that Australia would have liked to dish out after having won the previous Test by a whopping 405-run margin.
Michael Clarke’s decision to bat first after winning the toss was castigated in some quarters but it wasn’t the toss but the poor batting that followed which laid the side low. On a track that admittedly assisted the English brand of bowling, Australia were no match.
Playing against swing has been an Achilles Heel for the Aussie batsmen in the past as well, but the carnage that followed might not have been an expected one. David Warner fell to an in-swinger that was followed by a ridiculous review, while Steve Smith’s unorthodox technique saw him nick one to the slips.
Michael Clarke’s poor run of form continued as he played all over a Steven Finn delivery and when Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh and Peter Nevill fell in reasonable succession, Australia were staring down the wrong end of the barrel.
Chris Rogers’s continuing form helped for a bit but James Anderson and Stuart Broad ran through the Aussie lower order to flatten them for a paltry 136.
What made things worse for Australia was their bowlers failed to get as much assistance as the English seamers had from the pitch.
More accurately, they didn’t get their lines and lengths right, not consistently enough to trouble the England batsmen and had been for the two wickets that Nathan Lyon managed to eke out through some strange plays, Australia might have been in a deeper hole.
As things stand, England are just three behind Australia and are just three wickets down. England’s task will be to bat two sessions from here on and they would have gotten themselves a big enough lead.
The pitch might ease out over the next couple of days, especially if the weather remains as good as the forecast has pointed out.
A lead of 200 will make it improbable for Australia to come back into the Test. On the other hand, Australia will be gunning for a collapse come Day 2, but the question is whether they have the arsenal in these conditions to get that going.
More vitally, they need their fast bowling troika to become more consistent when the conditions are so helpful. Restricting the England lead to 100 will be a must if they want to remain within touching distance of their opponent, failing to do so could just hasten the end.
Follow the live scores and blog of this second day of the third Ashes 2015 Test between England and Australia from 8:00pm AEDT on Thursday and post your comments in the section below.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Yes, it's at whitelinewireless.com
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks mate, see you around tomorrow.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Australia have managed to take the Test into the third day, which isn't saying too much but at one stage it looked like the curtains were going to fall down pretty quickly on this Test. The Australian batsmen, bar Warner, once again found the movement too hot to handle and Steven Finn made it tougher with his pace and bounce. He bagged first five-wicket haul since 2013, when he had last played a Test too and rolled the Aussie middle-order over. Australia's only pieces of resistance came at the top from Warner - and he looked like he was batting on another planet - and then from Nevill, who was steadfast in his defence, and ended unbeaten on 37. Nevill has batted 117 balls so far - no other batsman in the game has batted more than 89. England could well be without James Anderson for the rest of this Test and probably for the next one as well but we will know more about his side strain issue tomorrow after he undergoes tests tonight. When play resumes tomorrow, Australia will look to bat long and deep into the session. The absence of Anderson should help and if they can push the lead up to 150, who knows what might follow. 150, however, is far, far away for now and survival will be the bigger key for the lower-order. 25 overs to the second new ball too, so they might want to take that into consideration and play their shots before it comes around, which could lead to wickets as well. I think I am done for this Test, it will be Vas taking over for tomorrow and one way or the other this game should be decided by stumps on day three. Been a pleasure bringing this game to you, be back for the fourth! Ciao.
Brains of a bimbo (Atgm)
Guest
Brilliant as usual suneer!gd nyt lets hope aussies get a lead upto 150 at least!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Nevill takes a single to the off side and Starc defends the last ball of the day to finish it off 23 ahead. Unfortunately for them, they have lost seven.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Loud, loud appeal for lbw against Starc and given not-out. Hits Starc's boot first but it looked like it was going down the leg-stump. No review left for England. 7/167 in the 55th
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Last over of the day then I suppose. Will be bowled by Joe Root.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Superb over from Broad, which was his last for the day. How Starc survived that angle from round the stumps and moving away, only he knows. Single from it. Australia 7/166, lead by 21.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
There are four remaining overs but only five minutes remain for the day's play. Broad to bowl.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
A couple of runs driven down the ground by Starc, and two singles later, he's back on strike. Drives Finn to the off side for a single. 7/165 in 53, lead's 20.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
I think a lot of those experts didn't doubt Nevill's calibre - it was more a case of getting the guy back who was left out because of reasons other than cricketing. Just about setting a precedence here. Haddin's form deserved him to be dropped anyway but after he had opted out because of his reasons, could have brought him back in.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Dropped, is it? Seemed like there was a bit of bat or glove on that one... ...a very good over from Broad, still some movement, seam and swing and it culminates into a short ball that angles on to Nevill's pads. He manages to get something on it and it flies to the keeper down his pads. Fails to gather it.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
I wonder whether all those people (mainly ex-cricketers) will admit they were wrong about saying Haddin should have been picked ahead of Neville?
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Stuart Broad comes in to replace Moeen. Talk in the Sky comms. box about whether Australia will make any changes to their line-up for Trent Bridge. Will they?
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
That's just one from the Finn over. The last ball was a full-toss which should have been hit into the gap but both these batsmen have gone into a shell. 7/160 in 51, lead's 15, six overs remaining.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Six from that Moeen over. Takes the Aussie lead up to 14, with seven overs remaining in the day.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Single for Starc at long last. The stand is worth one from 19 balls... ...and off the next ball, Nevill has gotten the glance very fine, off the bat and rushes away to the fence off Moeen. A single next ball makes it six from the over. 7/158 in the 50th
Brains of a bimbo (Atgm)
Guest
Haddin wudve scored 80 runs by now
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
And another maiden. The batsmen are just content in playing out the overs here, and probably wanting to push it into day three. Nevill reached 100 balls in the innings that over, batting on 29. 7/153 in 49.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Eight after the Finn over.