| 0.0 : Rain, rain go away, let us get some cricket today! The rain Gods have probably listened to our prayers as we have good news to begin with. It is not raining for now and the forecast is also not that bad for today. Since, the 1st day was abandoned, it is now a 4-day Test match. Also, 98 overs are to be bowled today to cover up for the time we lost yesterday. The second session is an extended one and an extra 30 minutes is also possible at the end if the amount of overs to be bowled are not done. |
| TOSS - Up goes the coin and it lands in the favor of Australia. THEY WILL BOWL FIRST! |
| AUSTRALIA (PLAYING XI) - Cameron Bancroft, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (WK/C), Pat Cummins, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood (IN FOR JAMES PATTINSON). |
| ENGLAND (PLAYING XI) - Rory Burns, Jason Roy, Joe Root (C), Joe Denly, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer ( DEBUT/ IN FOR JAMES ANDERSON), Stuart Broad, Jack Leach (IN FOR MOEEN ALI). |
| Australian skipper, Tim Paine says there has been a little weather around, the pitch has been under cover and it is also a shortened game. Informs there is one change, Josh Hazlewood comes in for James Pattinson. |
| England skipper, Joe Root, says they wanted to bowl too but it looks a pretty good surface and they want to make use of it this morning. Reckons the toss might just be a good one to lose and a big first innings total is what they are looking for. Further adds the revised conditions were important to take into consideration but they were always going to pick the team from the squad they have. Informs they have two changes, James Anderson and Moeen Ali are out and Jack Leach and Jofra Archer come |
| So all the English players walk out to collect their red caps. That is what they will be wearing on their head today as contribution to the Ruth Strauss foundation. The England players now head back in after collecting their caps and the Aussies make their way to the middle. They are followed by the English openers, Jason Roy and Rory Burns. Pat Cummins to start the proceedings for Australia. 4 slips and a gully in place. Here we go... |
| 0.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Right on the money to begin with! This is on off and on a length. Burns defends it out. |
| 0.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Another one on a length and around off, Burns once again gets right behind the line and keeps it out. |
| 0.3 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Three deliveries on a good length and on the stumps, Burns defends it out. Not a lot of movement for Cummins yet. |
| 0.4 : Pat Cummins to Burns, A little swing there! This is fuller and around off, it slants away. Burns lets it be. |
| 0.5 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Another one on a length and around off, Burns is solid in defense. |
| 0.6 : Pat Cummins to Burns, A maiden to begin with! On a length and outside off, Burns shoulders arms to this one. |
| Josh Hazlewood, the comeback man, to bowl from the other end. |
| 1.1 : J Hazlewood to Roy, A loosener to begin with and a loose shot by Roy. Short and outside off, Roy looks to slap it through the off side but misses. |
| 1.2 : J Hazlewood to Roy, That is a beauty! Hazlewood angles this into the batter and then gets it to leave him after landing it on off. Roy looks to defend inside the line and gets beaten. |
| 1.3 : J Hazlewood to Roy, OUT! EDGED AND TAKEN! What a start for Hazlewood and what a start for Australia. Exactly what they would have wanted after electing to bowl. Another excellent delivery. This is on off and on a length, it pitches and moves away. Roy hangs his bat out, the ball kisses the outside edge and goes to the keeper who makes no mistake. A duck for Roy. |
| Joe Root is the new man in for England. The skipper will be looking to stay in the middle and steady the ship a bit after the early wicket. |
| 1.4 : J Hazlewood to Root, England are underway! Good running! This is on off, Root drops it on the off side and gets to the other end. |
| 1.5 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Back of a length on off, Burns defends it onto the ground. |
| 1.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, On the fuller side on off, Burns pushes it towards cover for one. He is off the mark. A successful first over for Hazlewood. |
| 2.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Around middle, Burns defends it out. |
| 2.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Shorter and outside off, Burns does not fiddle with it. |
| 2.3 : Pat Cummins to Burns, On the fuller side and on off, Burns is solid in defense. |
| 2.4 : Pat Cummins to Burns, A sharp short one on middle, Burns ducks under it. |
| 2.5 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Well bowled! He makes good use of the angle. Lands it on off and gets it to slant away. Burns looks to defend but is beaten. |
| 2.6 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Good running again! This is on the pads, Burns flicks it behind square on the leg side and takes two. |
| 3.1 : J Hazlewood to Root, Good length and on off, Root plays it late to the man at gully. |
| 3.2 : J Hazlewood to Root, Very good from Hazlewood. This lands on off and it straightens after pitching. Root looks to defend but is beaten by the movement. |
| 3.3 : J Hazlewood to Root, Now gets this one to angle into the batter, Root defends it. |
| 3.4 : J Hazlewood to Root, Once again gets the ball to jag back in after landing it on off. Root manages to defend it late. |
| 3.5 : J Hazlewood to Root, This is tremendous stuff from Hazlewood. A joy to watch this at the moment. The last two balls came in. This one goes out after landing it around off. Root is beaten once again as he tries to defend. |
| 3.6 : J Hazlewood to Root, The last ball is brought back in from around off. Root once again plays it late and to mid on. A really good over by JH comes to an end. A testing one. |
| 4.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, On a good length and outside off, Burns lets it be. |
| 4.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Beaten. The ball pitches on a fullish length and swings away from the southpaw after pitching. |
| 4.3 : Pat Cummins to Burns, A good short one now on middle, Burns evades it. |
| 4.4 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Edged but well short! Burns played that with soft hands. This is around off and it straightens after pitching. RB defends inside the line, the ball goes off the outside edge but well short of the second slip fielder. |
| 4.5 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Short of the fielder again! Around off again and this one also straightens. Rory looks to defend one more time but the ball goes off the outside edge but short of third slip this time. |
| 4.6 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Outside off, Burns looks to defend initially but then bails out. |
| 5.1 : J Hazlewood to Root, Good length and on off, this is defended. |
| 5.2 : J Hazlewood to Root, Fuller in length and on off, Root looks to drive but the bat turns in his hand, he mistimes it to mid off. |
| 5.3 : J Hazlewood to Joe Root, Good fielding! This is angled into the off pole. Root plays it late towards gully where the fielder dives to his left and stops it. |
| 5.4 : J Hazlewood to Root, Attacks the off pole again, Root is solid in defense. |
| 5.5 : J Hazlewood to Root, Another dot! This is once again on the off stump, Root guides it to point. This is an excellent start by the Aussie bowlers. |
| 5.6 : J Hazlewood to Root, Well played but for no runs! This is on a length and just outside off, Root dabs it but can't get it past third slip. |
| 6.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Pitched on a length on leg, hit on the hips of Burns as he tries to flick this one towards the leg side. |
| 6.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, A single after 19 balls! Talk about keeping it tight. Length ball just outside off, Burns dabs it towards cover-point and takes a quick single. |
| 6.3 : Pat Cummins to Root, Length ball outside off, Root gets behind the line of the delivery and blocks it out. |
| 6.4 : Pat Cummins to Joe Root, FOUR! Class from Root! This one is pitched full and on off outside off, Root just leans into the drive and caresses it through covers for a boundary. First boundary of the match. |
| 6.5 : Pat Cummins to Root, FOUR! Action replay of the last ball. Again full and outside off, Root pushes at it with ease and a boundary results. |
| 6.6 : Pat Cummins to Root, Length ball this time, hits the inside edge of Roots bat and onto the pads. |
| 7.1 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Just outside off, Burns covers his off pole and shoulders arms to this one. |
| 7.2 : J Hazlewood to Burns, On the off pole this time, Burns defends it onto the ground. |
| 7.3 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Length ball on middle and off, Burns pushes it towards mid-wicket off the back foot. |
| 7.4 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Length ball outside off, Burns lets it be. |
| 7.5 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Loud appeal by Hazlewood for an LBW but the umpire is unmoved. The ball pitches on a length on middle and straightens. It hits Burns on the thigh pad. Looks like would have gone over the stumps. |
| 7.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Fuller this time by Hazlewood, Burns plays it towards mid-wicket. Good over by Hazlewood again. |
| Peter Siddle is on! First change for Australia. |
| 8.1 : P Siddle to Root, FOUR! A loosener to begin with and Root makes him pay! Shorter and outside off, Root goes back and guides it through cover-point. It races away to the fence. |
| 8.2 : P Siddle to Root, Length ball on the hips of Root, he flicks it towards deep square leg. The fielder there gives it a chase and gathers it as the batters take a single. |
| 8.3 : P Siddle to Burns, FOUR! Bad start by Siddle here, releasing all the pressure. This is on the hips of Burns and he glances it towards the fine leg fence. |
| 8.4 : P Siddle to Burns, Length ball outside off, defended on the off side by Burns. |
| 8.5 : P Siddle to Burns, FOUR! Great shot! Burns gets on top of the bounce of this length ball outside off and just pushes it through the covers for a boundary. |
| 8.6 : P Siddle to Burns, Length ball outside off, Burns guides it towards third man. Good over for England. |
| 9.1 : J Hazlewood to Root, OUT! LBW! Root is out of here. Not sure why he does not review though. Australia are absolutely pumped up here. They have got the big fish. Hazlewood is the man once again. He is making some impact on his return and also, both the wickets are well-deserved. He has been brilliant from the start. He has kept bowling tights, maidens after maidens and also getting the ball to move both ways. This time he gets it to come back in sharply from outside off. Root fails to put ba |
| 0.0 : Joe Denly walks out to the middle to replace his skipper. England need him to play a good innings here. |
| 9.2 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Good length ball on the pads of Denly, he pushes it towards mid on. |
| 9.3 : J Hazlewood to Denly, This time fuller but on the off side. Pushed back to the bowler by Denly. |
| 9.4 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Similar line and length again, pushed towards mid off. |
| 9.5 : J Hazlewood to Denly, On the pads of Denly, he beautifully flicks it towards the mid-wicket gap and takes a couple. |
| 9.6 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Length ball outside off, Denly lets it be. End of another successful over by Hazlewood. |
| 10.1 : P Siddle to Burns, Full and on middle, Burns pushes it back towards Siddle. |
| 10.2 : P Siddle to Burns, On the off pole, Denly blocks it out. |
| 10.3 : P Siddle to Burns, Outside off and on a length, Denly shoulders arms to it. |
| 10.4 : P Siddle to Burns, Full ball outside off, Denly pushes it towards the cover-point region and grabs a single. |
| 10.5 : P Siddle to Denly, Full on middle and leg, Denly defends it back to the bowler. |
| 10.6 : P Siddle to Denly, Stifled appeal for an LBW by Australia but nothing there. The ball is pitched on middle and leg and angles into Denly. It hits his thigh pad but the ball seems to be going down leg. |
| 11.1 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Outside off, Burns shoulders arms to it. |
| 11.2 : J Hazlewood to Burns, On middle and leg, Burns plays it towards square leg and takes a quick single. |
| 11.3 : J Hazlewood to Joe Denly, Ohhh! Edged but short! Close one this. Hazlewood pitches it just outside off, the ball pitches and straightens. It takes the outside edge of Denly's bat and goes towards third slip but falls just short. |
| 11.4 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Length ball outside off, Denly defends it off the back foot. |
| 11.5 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Nasty! Denly wasn't expecting that. Hazlewood pitches this one short and on middle, Denly looks to pull but misses. The ball kicks off sharply and hits the helmet of Denly. It lobs over the slip cordon towards third man. The batters cross and take a leg bye off it. Hazlewood asks Denly whether he is fine and Denly nods, shaking his head slightly. |
| Denly has a bit of a concussion check and hence Drinks have been called for. The good thing is that Joe is smiling, so it does not seem pretty serious. It is the norm these days that if you get hit on the protective gear, a concussion check is made. Also, there is the new rule of a like-for-like substitute if concussion is proved. Coming to the game, well, Australia's morning thus far. They won the toss on a bright and sunny day but the conditions are a mix and match of overcast and sunny. The b |
| 11.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Full and on off, Burns plays it straight back to the bowler. |
| 12.1 : P Siddle to Denly, Was that dropped or not? Head's reaction says he could have done better. The ball is pitched on middle and leg, Denly flicks it towards mid-wicket and Travis at short leg bends to take the catch but the ball goes from between his legs. The batters take 3. |
| 12.2 : P Siddle to Burns, On the off side this one, Burns plays it towards the point region. |
| 12.3 : P Siddle to Burns, Length ball outside off, Burns shoulders arms to it. |
| 12.4 : P Siddle to Burns, Full and on off, Burns drives it towards covers and takes a quick single. |
| 12.5 : P Siddle to Denly, Fuller ball on middle and off, Denly blocks it out. |
| 12.6 : P Siddle to Joe Denly, FOUR! Great shot! This is pure class from Denly. The ball is pitched full and outside off, Denly goes onto the front foot and drives it through the covers for a boundary. |
| Nathan Lyon is on now. The surface seems a touch dry so it will be interesting to see if he gets some purchase. |
| 13.1 : N Lyon to Burns, Floats it up on off, Burns pushes it to covers. |
| 13.2 : N Lyon to Burns, Tosses it up on middle, Burns looks to defend but it goes off the inner half towards mid-wicket. |
| 13.3 : N Lyon to Burns, Flatter and on middle, Burns goes back and works it through mid-wicket for one. |
| 13.4 : N Lyon to Denly, Just short again! This is floated up on off, it goes on with the arm. Denly plays for the turn but the ball goes off the outside edge but lands just short of the first slip fielder. |
| 13.5 : N Lyon to Denly, This is on middle, Denly works it to the man at mid-wicket. |
| 13.6 : N Lyon to Denly, Down the leg side, Denly lets it be. Not a lot of purchase in Lyon's first. |
| 14.1 : P Siddle to Burns, Good length and on off, this is defended. |
| 14.2 : P Siddle to Burns, Back of a length and on off, Burns defends it on the off side. |
| 14.3 : P Siddle to Burns, Another one on a length and around off, Rory keeps it out. |
| 14.4 : P Siddle to Burns, Bowls this one outside off, Rory pushes at it tentatively and mistimes it to covers. |
| 14.5 : P Siddle to Burns, Another one wide outside off, it has been left alone. |
| 14.6 : P Siddle to R Burns, DROPPED! Khawaja is the man! A life for Burns. That went to him quickly but it was at a good height, should have been taken. Siddle's persistence outside the off pole almost paid off. This is on a length and outside off. Burns goes after it. It goes off the outer half to gully who fails to hang on. This could prove costly. |
| 15.1 : N Lyon to Denly, Floats it up on off, Denly defends it. |
| 15.2 : N Lyon to Denly, Fuller on off, this is hit back to the bowler. |
| 15.3 : N Lyon to Denly, Loopy ball on off, Denly strokes it to covers. |
| 15.4 : N Lyon to Denly, Tosses this one up on off, Joe strokes it nicely through covers for two. A good shot but Lyon won't mind as he is driving it against the turn. |
| 15.5 : N Lyon to Denly, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| An appeal for an LBW has been turned down. Australia review. Could just be umpire's call for height or maybe just doing too much. |
| 15.6 : Lyon to Denly, NOT OUT! Doing too much, missing leg! Australia lose one review. Denly had a good stride forward there. This is tossed up outside off, it turns back in. Denly looks to flick but misses to get hit on the front pad. An appeal but the umpire shakes his head. Paine reviews. Replays roll in and Hawk Eye shows the ball to be going down leg. |
| 16.1 : P Siddle to Burns, Length ball outside off, Burns shoulders ams to it. |
| 16.2 : P Siddle to Burns, Similar line and length, Burns again lets it be. |
| 16.3 : P Siddle to Burns, Consistent bowling from Siddle, Burns has no business with these kind of balls. |
| 16.4 : P Siddle to Burns, Great fielding! Matthew Wade is the man. This time Siddle bowls it fuller and on the off pole. Burns comes on the front foot and pushes it towards mid off. Wade at short mid off dives to his right and saves at least one. Putting pressure on the batters here. |
| 16.5 : P Siddle to Burns, Full again and on off, this time Burns is able to take the single as he strokes it towards covers. |
| 16.6 : P Siddle to Denly, FOUR! Edged but Denly won't mind. Good length ball on off pole, the ball pitches and moves away to catch the outside edge of Denly's blade. The ball though gets enough contact to go away from the slip cordon and into the third man fence. |
| 17.1 : N Lyon to R Burns, Floats it up on middle, Burns looks to defend but it goes off the inner half to short leg. |
| 17.2 : N Lyon to Burns, Flatter and on middle, it skids through. Burns goes back and pushes it to covers. |
| 17.3 : N Lyon to Burns, On middle, this is defended. |
| 17.4 : N Lyon to Burns, Flatter and on off, Rory pushes it to the man at covers. |
| 17.5 : N Lyon to Burns, FOUR! That has been nailed! Uppish but away from the fielder. Burns brings the sweep shot out. He hits it hard and just away from the diving mid-wicket fielder for a boundary. |
| 17.6 : N Lyon to Burns, Outside off, Burns pushes it to covers. |
| Josh Hazlewood is back! |
| 18.1 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Good ball by Hazlewood to start his second spell. Good length ball on off, it is blocked out by Denly. |
| 18.2 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Length ball on the fifth stump line, Denly lets it be. |
| 18.3 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Hazlewood attacking the stumps here. Good length ball on the off pole, Denly pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 18.4 : J Hazlewood to Denly, This time Denly is able to take a couple. Length ball just outside off, he dabs it towards third man and takes a couple. |
| 18.5 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Short of a length ball on off, Denly punches it towards covers and takes a single. |
| 18.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, On the body of Burns, he hops and plays it towards square leg as he retains the strike for the next over. |
| 19.1 : N Lyon to R Burns, Shorter in length and outside off, Lyon gets away with it as Burns slaps it to covers. |
| 19.2 : N Lyon to R Burns, Flat and on middle, the ball hits the inside edge of Burns' bat and thenn hits the pad. It lobs up but falls safely. |
| 19.3 : N Lyon to Burns, Short this time, Burns blocks it out. |
| 19.4 : N Lyon to Burns, Full ball on off, tossed up. Burns blocks this off the front foot. |
| 19.5 : N Lyon to Burns, Good shot by Burns here. He comes down the track to this loopy ball on off and plays it towards deep square leg. The fielder in the deep gobbles it up as the batters take a couple. |
| 19.6 : N Lyon to Burns, Fuller and flatter this time by Lyon on the off side. Burns sweeps it towards mid-wicket but Head there dives to his right and saves at least two. Good cricket all around. |
| 20.1 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Back of a length and on off, Denly defends it out. The wicket seems to have eased out now and it looks a good one to bat on. |
| 20.2 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Goes wide of the crease and angles this one into the off pole. JD keeps it out again. |
| 20.3 : J Hazlewood to Denly, FOUR! Creamed! What a shot that is. Not a lot wrong with that delivery. It is slightly fuller and on off, Denly leans into the stroke and hits it through covers for a boundary. |
| 20.4 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Outside off and on a length. Denly shoulders arms to this one. |
| 20.5 : J Hazlewood to Denly, On the off pole, blocked again. |
| 20.6 : J Hazlewood to Denly, A short one to end on middle, Denly ducks under it. |
| 21.1 : N Lyon to Burns, Shorter and around off, Burns goes back and slaps it towards cover. The fielder there misfields and a run is taken. |
| 21.2 : N Lyon to Denly, This is tossed up on off, it is hit towards mid on for another one. |
| 21.3 : N Lyon to R Burns, Well bowled! It is slower through the air on off, Burns lunges and defends it. The ball hits the outer part of the bat and goes towards point. |
| 21.4 : N Lyon to Burns, FOUR! Sloppy effort in the field there. This is shorter and outside off, Khawaja goes back and pushes it towards cover-point. Khawaja runs to his right and then dives but fails to stop it. |
| 21.5 : N Lyon to Burns, Flatter and on off, Burns pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 21.6 : N Lyon to Burns, Close! This is darted on the off pole. Burns at the very end, gets his bat down and keeps it out. |
| Pat Cummins is on now! |
| 22.1 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Hits the length hard on off, Denly defends it out. |
| 22.2 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Another length ball around off, Denly blocks it out. |
| 22.3 : Pat Cummins to Denly, A bumper now on middle, the batter ducks under it. |
| 22.4 : Pat Cummins to Joe Denly, Edgy FOUR! This is shorter and outside off, Denly hangs his bat out, it goes off the outer half through backward point and it races away. |
| 22.5 : Pat Cummins to Denly, On a good length and outside off, it has been left alone. |
| 22.6 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Slightly fuller and on off, Denly defends it out. |
| 23.1 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Length ball down the leg side, Rory looks to flick but misses. |
| 23.2 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Fullish ball outside off, Burns leans into the drive but the shot goes straight to the mid off fielder. |
| 23.3 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Edged but safe! Length ball outside off to Burns, the ball gets a thick outside edge and it goes uppishly towards gully but falls short. |
| 23.4 : J Hazlewood to Burns, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. They pick up a single. |
| 23.5 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Full ball on the off side, Denly pushes it towards mid off. |
| 23.6 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Length ball outside off, Denly shoulders arms to it. |
| 24.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Short ball on middle and leg, Burns ducks under it and lets it through to the keeper. |
| 24.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Down the leg side this time by Cummins, Rory tries to flick but misses. |
| 24.3 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Length ball on the fifth stump line, RB leaves it. |
| 24.4 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Good bowling by Cummins here. The ball pitches on middle and then nips away with the angle. Rory tries to defend but does so inside the line of the delivery. He gets beaten and the ball also just falls short of the keeper as he takes it on the bounce. |
| 24.5 : Pat Cummins to Burns, This one takes off! Pitching on a length and just outside off, the ball pitches and rises on Burns. He tries to play at it but misses. |
| 24.6 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Length ball way too wide for Burns, he lets it be. |
| 25.1 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Good length and on off, Denly tries to defend but it goes off the inner half on the leg side. |
| 25.2 : Hazlewood to Denly, The inside edge saves Denly there! This is a good nut. It lands on middle and it comes back in. Denly looks to drive but gets an inside edge onto the pads. An appeal but the umpire shakes his head. Paine and Hazlewood have a chat but don't review. Actually, replays late on show there was no inside edge and it hit him high on the back pad. Also, it was right from Australia to not review as Hawk Eye shows it to be going over. |
| 25.3 : J Hazlewood to Denly, On a length and around off, this one moves away. Denly guides it to gully. |
| 25.4 : J Hazlewood to Denly, OHHH! Lapse in concentration there for Denly. After a few good balls, Hazlewood bowls it full and outside off, wanting Denly to go for a drive. Joe does so but is beaten. |
| 25.5 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Goes back to bowling length on off, it is defended nicely. |
| 25.6 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Attakcs the off pole again, Denly pushes it to covers. |
| 26.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, On the pads, Burns looks to flick but misses to get hit on the thigh pad. |
| 26.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Fuller and on off, Burns strokes it to covers. |
| 26.3 : Pat Cummins to Burns, On the middle pole, Burns pushes it to mid on. |
| 26.4 : Pat Cummins to Burns, FOUR! Nicely timed! Just used the pace of the bowler there. Also, the 50-run stand is up and it is a very good one. A much-needed one too as England were in a spot of bother. Fuller and outside off, Burns leans into the stroke and hits it through covers for a boundary. |
| 26.5 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Good comeback! this is on a length and outside off, Burns hangs his bat out and gets beaten. |
| 26.6 : Pat Cummins to Burns, A dot to end! Back of a length on off, this is kept out. THAT IS LUNCH ON DAY 2! |
| A good recovery by England! However, not sure which side will be the happier one at the break. We can easily say it is a shared session. The start though belonged to Australia as the returning pacer, Josh Hazlewood ran riot and took two important wickets of Jason Roy and the skipper, Joe Root. But as the game went on, the pitch played out well for the batters as the movement reduced and batting became easier. Joe Denly and Rory Burns steadied the ship as they are amidst a 50-run partnership. The |
| ... Day 2, Session 2 ... |
| We are back! Joe Denly and Rory Burns will resume their innings. Josh Hazlewood will start the proceedings after the break. Here we go... |
| 27.1 : J Hazlewood to Denly, This is angled into the batter, it is worked wide of mid on for one. First run of the session. |
| 27.2 : J Hazlewood to Burns, FOUR! Nice way to start the session for Burns. This is shorter and outside off, Rory stands tall and pushes it through covers. No stopping those. |
| 27.3 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Runs again! This is outside off, Burns plays it with an angled bat down towards third man for two. |
| 27.4 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Another two! All four balls after the break have been scored off. This is on the pads, Burns works it down towards fine leg. The fielder there runs to his left, dives and saves two for his side. |
| 27.5 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Good length and on off, this is defended onto the ground. A DOT! |
| 27.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Another dot! Fuller and on off, this is pushed to mid off. 9 from the first over after resumption. |
| Pat Cummins to bowl from the other end. |
| 28.1 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Another one which is angled into the batter, Denly works it through square leg and takes two. |
| 28.2 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Slightly shorter and just outside off, left alone. |
| 28.3 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Back of a length on off, Denly stands tall and keeps it out. |
| 28.4 : Pat Cummins to Denly, On a length this time around off, Denly is solid in defense. |
| 28.5 : Pat Cummins to Denly, A loud shout but once again the umpire shakes his head. Too high? Paine does signal that. This is around off and it jags back in. Denly looks to drive but misses to get hit high on the pads. An appeal but it is turned down. Hawk Eye shows it to be clipping the top of the stumps. Australia need to get it a little more fuller than the length they are bowling. |
| 28.6 : Pat Cummins to Denly, A dot to end! On off, Denly stands tall and keeps it out. |
| 29.1 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Short of a length ball on leg, Burns looks to flick it but he gets hit on the thigh pad as the ball rolls towards the off side. |
| 29.2 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Fullish ball just outside the off pole, Burns defends it back towards the bowler. |
| 29.3 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Good bumper by Hazlewood! It is bowled on middle and leg, Burns quickly ducks under it. |
| 29.4 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Fuller this time on the legs of Burns, he tucks it towards mid-wicket. |
| 29.5 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Fuller and on off, RB plays it back to the bowler. |
| 29.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Again full and on middle, Burns blocks it out. Maiden for Josh in his second over after the break. |
| 30.1 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Full ball just outside the off pole, Denly blocks it. |
| 30.2 : Pat Cummins to Denly, This length ball pitches on middle and rises, it hits the handle of Denly's bat and falls towards short leg. |
| 30.3 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Length ball outside off, played to point off the back foot. |
| 30.4 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Bumper once again, Denly is not worried as it is too high. |
| 30.5 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Unusual bounce on this one. The ball pitches on middle, short of a length. It rockets off the pitch and rapidly goes towards Denly. He tries to evade it but gets hit hard on his left bicep. He looks okay though. Probably he should wear an arm guard against bowler's who consistently bowl about 140 kphs. |
| 30.6 : Pat Cummins to Denly, FOUR BYES! Too high this time by Cummins. He goes for another bouncer but pitches it too short. It goes way over the head of Denly. He does not fend at it and the ball goes over Tim Paine's head too although he leaps and does get a glove on it. It doesn't make any difference as the ball goes towards the fine leg fence. |
| 31.1 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Yes, no, yes and then a single in the end! This is around off, Burns guides it towards point and takes a few steps down the track. The fielder at point makes a half-stop. Denly goes for the run then. Burns is ball-watching but spots his partner coming towards him and then goes for it as well. They complete it. |
| 31.2 : J Hazlewood to Denly, On middle, Denly works it to wide mid on. |
| 31.3 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Loose stroke! Shorter and outside off, Denly goes after it away from the body but misses. |
| 31.4 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Short to Denly now and Joe ducks under it. Maybe they have a plan is to bowl short for a while now. |
| 31.5 : J Hazlewood to Denly, This time it is on a length, Denly keeps it out. We would see more of length from Hazlewood and one surprise short one. |
| 31.6 : J Hazlewood to Denly, OUT! Caught behind! Hazlewood is the breakthrough provider once again. Lovely, lovely delivery. Hazlewood lands it on a length and around off, it shapes away late. Denly does not adjust to the movement as he defends inside the line. The ball kisses the outside edge and goes into the mitts of the keeper. A much-needed wicket for the visitors as this partnership was really going nicely. End of the 66-run stand though. Early wicket for Australia after the break. Also, re |
| Jos Buttler is the new man in. |
| 32.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Good length and on off, Burns guides it to point. |
| 32.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, On middle, this is pushed to mid on. |
| 32.3 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Shorter and outside off, Burns lets it be. |
| 32.4 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Back of a length again on middle, RB defends it onto the ground. |
| 32.5 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Another one on the shorter side, Burns rises on his toes and keeps it out. |
| 32.6 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Well bowled and well played! Good cricket all around. A short one just outside off, Burns at the very end evades it. |
| 33.1 : J Hazlewood to Jos Buttler, FOUR OVERTHROWS! Bonus runs for England! This is on off, Buttler drops it towards point and takes off. Lyon picks the ball up and has a shy at the non-striker's end but the ball flicks the pad of Buttler and goes away from the fielder backing up and to the mid-wicket fence. Buttler has five from the first ball he faces. |
| 33.2 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Good bouncer by Hazlewood again. Pitching on middle and leg, the ball rises after pitching. Burns ducks under it and lets it through to the keeper. |
| 33.3 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Length ball on the off side, Burns plays it towards mid off. |
| 33.4 : J Hazlewood to Burns, FOUR BYES! Also brings up 100 runs for England. The ball is pitched wide outside the leg side, it pitches and swings further away. Burns tries to flick it away but misses. Paine behind does get a hand to it but fails to stop it. The ball goes to the fine leg fence and a boundary results. |
| 33.5 : J Hazlewood to Burns, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 33.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, FOUR! Hazlewood goes for runs for the first time in this match. This is outside off and on a length, Burns opens the face of the bat and guides it towards the third man fence for a boundary. 13 runs off the over. England are 105/3. |
| 34.1 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Back of a length on off, Buttler guides it to point. |
| 34.2 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Attacks the off pole, Jos defends it. |
| 34.3 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Lovely delivery! This is slightly fuller and around off, Buttler looks to defend but the ball straightens and it beats the outside edge. |
| 34.4 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Fuller and on off, this is pushed towards mid off. |
| 34.5 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, A short one on middle, Jos ducks under it. |
| 34.6 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, On the off pole again, Buttler defends it out solidly. |
| Selfie lad - 'What is with Burns and Lady Luck? In the last match, Australia did not review an LBW decision against him in the first innings facing Nathan Lyon and here, Usman Khawaja dropped a dolly. And he keeps scoring and scoring and scoring...' @Selfie - Hmmm.... fair point. That too, both chances came pretty early in the innings. At Edgbaston, Rory was on 19 and here, on 11. So the key is - get Rory early, else, he will BURN you. |
| Peter Siddle is on now. |
| 35.1 : P Siddle to Burns, DROPPED! Peter Siddle has just not had the luck he needs! Once again a catch has been dropped of his bowling. Burns, just like the first Test, continues riding his luck. The skipper is the culprit this time. Siddle bowls it fuller and around off, it shapes away. Burns goes after it away from the body. It goes off the outside edge to the left and low of Paine. He dives and goes for it with one hand but fails to hang on. |
| 35.2 : P Siddle to Burns, On middle, Burns keeps it out. |
| 35.3 : P Siddle to Burns, Good length and on off, it is defended. |
| 35.4 : P Siddle to Burns, He moves onto 49! Shorter and outside off, Burns pushes it through covers for two. |
| 35.5 : P Siddle to Burns, Another back of a length ball on off, this is defended. |
| 35.6 : P Siddle to Burns, Fifty for Burns! This is what happens when you give a good player not one but two chances. He will surely make you pay. This is on off and on a length. Burns pushes it through covers and takes two. Will he score another ton here? |
| 36.1 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, This is on off, it is angled into the batter, Buttler looks to defend but it goes off the inner half down to fine leg for one. |
| 36.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Shorter and on the body, Burns looks to nudge it around the corner but it hits the higher part of the bat and goes down onto the pitch. |
| 36.3 : Pat Cummins to Burns, OUCH! That might have hurt. Shorter and on the body, Burns does not have enough time to move out of the way and gets hit on the shoulder. |
| 36.4 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Another short one! This time Burns was ready for it as he ducks under it. |
| 36.5 : Pat Cummins to Burns, That has hit Burns again! Slightly short again, this time too Burns fails to get out of the way and is hit on the body. |
| 36.6 : Pat Cummins to Burns, A couple! Shorter and on the body, Burns nudges it down to fine leg and takes two. A testing over by Cummins comes to an end. |
| 37.1 : P Siddle to Buttler, On the fuller side outside off, Buttler lets it be. |
| 37.2 : P Siddle to Jos Buttler, Fuller and on off, JB hits it to mid off. |
| 37.3 : P Siddle to Buttler, A lot of away swing for the bowler there but it is way too outside off. Left alone. |
| 37.4 : P Siddle to Buttler, Another one outside off, it is left alone. |
| 37.5 : P Siddle to Buttler, Well bowled! He kept taking the ball away and this time angles it into the batter. Buttler looks to flick it on the leg side but closes the face of the bat early. A soft leading edge to point is induced. |
| 37.6 : P Siddle to Jos Buttler,FOUR! Through covers again! Maybe, Siddle should have a cover fielder in palce. That is how he is bowling too. Full and outside off, Buttler leans into it and creams it through covers for a boundary. Siddle has been very expensive today. |
| 38.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, A short one on the leg side, ducked under. |
| 38.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Nasty stuff! Shorter around off and angling away. Burns looks to defend it by hopping but the ball whizzes past the outside edge. Testing times for Burns. |
| Has that been taken? If it is, it is a stunner. Burns is the man in question. The umpires take it upstairs. SOFT SIGNAL IS OUT! |
| 38.3 : Pat Cummins to R Burns, OUT! That is clean as a whistle! Take a bow Bancroft. You have taken an absolute blinder. Unbelievable. Rory Burns' luck runs out. The ploy to bowl short has worked. Cummins bowls another one on his body. Burns stands tall and looks to nudge it on the leg side. It goes to the left of short leg where CB dives to his left and seems to have taken it. The Aussies are celebrating but Burns holds his ground. The umpire takes it upstairs. Soft signal is OUT! Replays roll i |
| Ben Stokes walks out to replace Rory Burns in the middle. |
| 38.4 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, A good short one again, Stokes ducks under it. |
| 38.5 : Pat Cummins to Ben Stokes, FIVE WIDES! This is way too short and on middle, Stokes lets it be. It goes over the keeper and into the third man fence. |
| Pat Cummins to Ben Stokes, FOUR! Hammered away! Off the mark in style! Short and on middle, Stokes is ready for it. He pulls it hard through mid-wicket and the ball races away to the fence. |
| 38.6 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Shorter and outside off, left alone. |
| Nathan Lyon is back! |
| 39.1 : N Lyon to Buttler, Full and around off, Buttler drives it off the inner half of the bat past the bowler towards mid on for a single. |
| 39.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Around middle and off, watchfully defended. |
| 39.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full and outside off, Ben gets right behind the line and blocks. |
| 39.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, Goes right back in his crease and defends once again. |
| 39.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Fired down the leg side, BS gets back to flick but misses and is hit on the pads. A mild LBW appeal ensues but it is in vain. Going down leg. |
| 39.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full and around off, watchfully defended. |
| 40.1 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Down the leg side, Buttler looks to flick but misses and is hit on the pads. The ball goes off those towards the keeper. |
| 40.2 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Outside off, on a length, moving away, Jos looks to defend but the ball goes off the outside edge, on the bounce, to second slip. |
| 40.3 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, A bit of inward movement this time, JB covers it nicely and works it through fine leg for a single. |
| 40.4 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, On a length around off, Stokes gets on top of the bounce and punches it in the gap between cover and point for a single. Good spell this from Cummins so far. 6.4 overs, 1/16. |
| 40.5 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, A bouncer, outside off, calmly ducked under. |
| Field change. Someone is going back to the square leg boundary. |
| 40.6 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Pacy delivery, outside off, solidly defended. |
| 41.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Landed outside off, spinning away, worked towards short mid-wicket. |
| 41.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full and around off, watchfully defended. |
| 41.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, Very full, slowly looped, around middle, pushed back. |
| 41.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, EDGED, FOUR! How close was that? Very close. Flashed down to third man. Outside off, Stokes goes back but does not actually play any shot. He waits and waits and waits and at the last possible moment, slashes hard. That perhaps confuses both Paine and Smith at first slip. They react late when the edge is induced and the ball flies low beneath Steve's left hand and escapes to the third man fence. |
| 41.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Outside off, left alone. |
| 41.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, FOUR! STUPENDOUS! Nothing edgy or flashy or lucky about this stroke. Full and around off, Stokes gets down and mows a sweep, powerfully through mid-wicket. |
| Peter Siddle returns. 7-1-35-0 so far. |
| 42.1 : P Siddle to Buttler, Full and outside off, a touch wider to be enticed, Buttler lets it be. |
| 42.2 : P Siddle to Buttler, Interesting. Jos walks into this shot and pushes the ball to cover. Normally, batsmen adopt this technique either to cover the swing or if there is no swing. |
| 42.3 : P Siddle to Buttler, OUT! Caught behind! Stop the press. Siddle has got a wicket. Yes, stop printing! At last, he gets some luck and the bowling change works for Paine. It is a very good delivery, landing on a length just outside off and forcing Buttler to play at that. He does so but the late movement does him in. It is not too much but just enough to take the outside edge. Simple catch for Tim Paine and England are now 5 down. |
| Jonny Bairstow walks in at number 7, replacing Buttler. |
| 42.4 : P Siddle to Bairstow, That is a jaffa! Almost two in two for Siddle. He goes wide of the crease and angles it into the off pole. Bairstow is not sure whether to play at it or not to. In the end he bails out. The ball goes just over the off pole. A nervous start by JB. |
| 42.5 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Way too wide outside off, left alone. |
| 42.6 : P Siddle to J Bairstow, Bairstow is off the mark! On middle, Bairstow looks to play it with a straight bat but it goes off the inner half through square leg for one. A successful over from Siddle comes to an end. |
| 43.1 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On the pads, it is worked towards fine leg for one. |
| 43.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter and outside off, Stokes cuts it to point. |
| 43.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, Slower through the air outside off, the batsman lets it be. |
| 43.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, Almost a replica of the way Stokes was dismissed in the 4th innings of the first Test. This is tossed up outside off, it pitches and turns away. Stokes lunges and tries to defend but the ball turns away and beats the outside edge. |
| 43.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, On the stumps this time, Stokes defends it onto the ground. |
| 43.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Loopy ball outside off, it once again pitches and turns. Stokes looks to defend but is beaten again. End of a very good over by Lyon. |
| 44.1 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Slightly shorter and outside off, Bairstow plays inside the line and lets it be. |
| 44.2 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Fuller and around off, Bairstow drives it to point. |
| 44.3 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Unplayable! Not a lot you can do there. This starts on off and then shapes away. Bairstow defends the original trajectory but gets beaten. |
| 44.4 : P Siddle to Bairstow, On a good length and outside off, left alone. |
| 44.5 : P Siddle to Bairstow, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 44.6 : P Siddle to Bairstow, On a good length and around off, it is kept out. |
| 45.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flatter and outside off, this is left alone. |
| 45.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, OUT! LBW! Lyon gets one now! England in deep trouble now. Unlucky 13 strikes for Stokes. He looks to sweep this ball on the stumps. Misses and gets hit on the front pad. An appeal and the umpire raises the finger. Stokes thinks about the review, asks his partner but does not get the nod. He stands up, turns and starts walking back. Into the bowling all-rounders now are Australia. |
| Chris Woakes is the next man in. |
| 45.3 : N Lyon to Woakes, Flatter and on off, this is defended. |
| 45.4 : N Lyon to Woakes, Floats it up on off, Woakes lunges and keeps it out. |
| 45.5 : N Lyon to Woakes, Flatter and outside off, this turns back in. Woakes goes back and looks to flick but misses to get hit high on the pads. |
| 45.6 : N Lyon to Woakes, No run. |
| 46.1 : P Siddle to Bairstow, FOUR! Good length ball on the off pole and it is pummeled down the ground by Bairstow through mid on. |
| 46.2 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Good length ball this time just outside off, played back towards the bowler. |
| 46.3 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Full and outside off, Bairstow guides it towards covers. |
| 46.4 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Beaten! Beauty by Siddle! He pitches this on a good length on the fourth stump line. It pitches and nips away from jonny who defends inside the line of the delivery. Oohs and Aahs by the Aussies. |
| 46.5 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Length ball outside off, JB lets it through to the keeper. |
| 46.6 : P Siddle to J Bairstow, FOUR! JB replies perfectly to Siddle. A hint fuller on off by Siddle this time, Bairstow just leans into the drive and pushes it through mid off for a boundary. |
| 47.1 : N Lyon to Woakes, Loopy ball on off, Woakes looks to defend but the ball turns back in and goes off the inner half towards mid-wicket. |
| 47.2 : N Lyon to Woakes, FOUR! Good shot! Good use of the feet by Woakes. 150 up for England. He steps down the track and with the turn works it through mid-wicket. It races away to the fence. |
| 47.3 : N Lyon to Woakes, This one stays low! Flatter and on off, Woakes gets his bat down in time and keeps it out. |
| 47.4 : N Lyon to Woakes, Shorter and outside off, Woakes cuts it through point for one. |
| 47.5 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On off, Bairstow goes back and pushes it to covers. |
| 47.6 : N Lyon to Bairstow, JB comes down the track but does not get to the pitch of the ball. He tries to flick but misses to get hit high on the pads. |
| 48.1 : Siddle to Woakes, FOUR LEG BYES! On the pads, Woakes looks to flick but misses to get hit on the pads. The bowler is appealing but the umpire shakes his head. The ball in the meantime goes to the fine leg fence. |
| 48.2 : P Siddle to Woakes, Fuller and on middle, it is worked to mid-wicket. |
| 48.3 : P Siddle to Woakes, On a good length and outside off, it is left alone. |
| 48.4 : P Siddle to Woakes, Another ball on a length and outside off, Woakes does not play at it. |
| 48.5 : P Siddle to Woakes, The 5th ball is angled into the pads, Woakes works it down to fine leg for one. |
| 48.6 : P Siddle to Bairstow, A length ball to end but it is outside off, left alone. |
| 49.1 : N Lyon to Woakes, Loud appeal from the Aussies for an LBW but the umpire shakes his head. Lyon loops this one on off pole and the ball spins in and hits the pad of Woakes. |
| 49.2 : N Lyon to Woakes, Defended off the back foot by the batsman. |
| 49.3 : N Lyon to Woakes, FOUR! Full ball wide outside off, Woakes comes on the front foot and pushes it through covers for a beautiful boundary. |
| 49.4 : N Lyon to Woakes, Loopy and on off, Woakes blocks it out. |
| 49.5 : N Lyon to Woakes, This time fuller and on middle, Woakes again defends it. |
| 49.6 : N Lyon to Woakes, Lyon bowls this one fullish and on middle and off, it hits Woakes on the pads. Good over by Lyon comes to an end. |
| 50.1 : P Siddle to Bairstow, A little too straight, Bairstow works it through square leg and takes one. |
| 50.2 : P Siddle to Woakes, Good length and on off, Woakes stands tall and defends it onto the ground. |
| 50.3 : P Siddle to Woakes, Almost plays it on! Back of a length on off, Woakes looks to defend but does so quite late. It goes off the inside edge and it bounces ahead of the stumps and then goes past them. |
| 50.4 : P Siddle to Woakes, Good length and on off, Woakes is once again solid in defense. |
| 50.5 : P Siddle to Woakes, Wide of the crease goes Siddle this time and bowls it outside off, it has been left alone. |
| 50.6 : P Siddle to Woakes, A dot to end! This is on off, Woakes defends it onto the ground. |
| Josh Hazlewood is back on! |
| 51.1 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Nice start again by Hazlewood, he is getting some zip off the pitch. The ball is pitched on a length just outside off and rises. Bairstow lets it through and Paine collects it near chest height. |
| 51.2 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Again similar line and length, Bairstow lets it go. |
| 51.3 : J Hazlewood to J Bairstow, Full ball on off, good shot by Bairstow towards cover-point but Khawaja dives to his left and saves at least a couple of runs for his side. |
| 51.4 : J Hazlewood to J Bairstow, Edged but short! Hazlewood bowls this one just outside off, it nips away after pitching. Bairstow plays at it with soft hands and thus the ball falls just short of first slip where Warner was placed. Bairstow survives. |
| 51.5 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Fuller this time and on the pads, Bairstow pushes it towards mid-wicket and takes a single. |
| 51.6 : J Hazlewood to C Woakes, Hazlewood induces the outside edge again but this time from Woakes. He again pitches it on a length outside off, Woakes pushes at it but gets a thick outside edge. The ball goes away from the slip cordon and towards third man as the batters are able to take three runs. |
| 52.1 : P Siddle to Woakes, This is angled on the pads, it is worked towards deep backward square leg for one. |
| 52.2 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Good shot but for no runs! Fuller and on off, JB strokes it towards mid off where the fielder moves to his right and stops it nicely. |
| 52.3 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Good length and just outside off, it has been left alone. |
| 52.4 : P Siddle to Bairstow, This is angled into the batter, the line is a little too straight. Jonny looks to flick but misses to get hit on the pads. |
| 52.5 : P Siddle to J Bairstow, Shorter in length and on middle, Bairstow pulls it towards deep backward square leg for one. |
| 52.6 : P Siddle to Woakes, Slightly fuller and outside off, the batter shoulders arms to this one. |
| Normally, we would have had Tea by now, but because we lost an entire day due to rain yesterday, Tea has been extended by half an hour. It will be taken at 4.10 pm local (1510 GMT). |
| 53.1 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Good length ball just outside off, JB lets it through to the keeper. |
| 53.2 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Good length ball again but this time on the pads, Jonny tucks it towards mid-wicket and takes a quick single. |
| 53.3 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Full ball on off, Woakes pushes it out towards mid off. |
| Selfie Lad - 'Hey commentator. Like minds think alike. I was just about to ask when is this never-ending session going to end and you just posted an update. Thanks!' @Selfie - Telepathy. |
| 53.4 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Length ball just outside off, Woakes blocks this one out towards cover-point. |
| 53.5 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Great fielding! Wade flies to his right and saves at least a run for his side. Good length ball on the off side by Hazlewood, Woakes pushes hard at it. The ball goes wide of the man at cover, Matthew Wade but he dives to his right and fields superbly. Gets pats on the back from his teammates as well. |
| 53.6 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, FOUR! Good shot by Woakes this. A little unorthodox but gets the desired result. Hazlewood bowls this one short and on middle, Woakes gets up on one leg and plays a short arm jab towards mid-wicket for a boundary. Travis Head gives it a good chase from deep square leg and dives but cannot get there. |
| Change of ends for Nathan Lyon. |
| 54.1 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Nicely played! Brings the paddle sweep out and hits it towards fine leg for two. |
| 54.2 : N Lyon to Bairstow, FOUR! Not off the middle but England won't care. This is floated around off, Bairstow looks to play the sweep shot this time, it goes off the inner half fine on the leg side for a boundary. |
| 54.3 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On middle, Bairstow works it to short leg. |
| 54.4 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On the leg stump and then spinning away. Bairstow looks to flick but misses. |
| 54.5 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Flatter and outside off, JB guides it towards point and gets to the other end. |
| 54.6 : N Lyon to Woakes, On middle, Woakes works it with the turn through square leg for one. |
| 55.1 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Play and a miss! Fuller and just outside off, Woakes goes to drive but misses it as he is late into the shot. Maybe he is too worried about the short ball in the back of his mind. |
| 55.2 : J Hazlewood to C Woakes, Edged and short! Woakes living dangerously here. Again fuller and around off, this time Woakes does get an outside edge on it. However, the ball falls short of Warner at first slip. Maybe the slip cordon should take a few steps forward. |
| 55.3 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Length ball down the leg side, Woakes tries to flick but misses. |
| 55.4 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Length ball again and on off, Woakes gets behind the line of the delivery and blocks it out. |
| 55.5 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Wide outside off stump, Woakes lets it be. |
| 55.6 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Play and a miss again. Hazlewood looking menacing here. Again full and just outside off, the ball moves away after pitching. Woakes tries to defend but does so inside the line. The wicket might just be around the corner. |
| 56.1 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Floats it up on off, it is kept out. |
| 56.2 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On middle, this is worked to mid-wicket. |
| 56.3 : N Lyon to Bairstow, FOUR! Nice shot! This was against the turn but Bairstow played it really well. This is tossed up outside off, JB leans into it and strokes it through covers for a boundary. Partnership is now 46. |
| 56.4 : N Lyon to Bairstow, FOUR! 50-run stand is up! Bairstow brings it up by playing a lovely shot. He brings out the reverse sweep and hits it nicely behind point for a boundary. A vital stand this, they are slowly but steadily taking England to safer shores. |
| 56.5 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Loopy ball on the pads, JB works it towards backward square leg and takes two. |
| 56.6 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On the pads, Bairstow pads it away. Lyon makes a huge appeal but not sure why. 10 from the over, a very good one for England. |
| Steve Smith is into the attack now. He is being booed by the fans here. However, that is the reception he has been receiving throughout the series till now. He has responded in great fashion though. |
| 57.1 : S Smith to Woakes, Short of a length ball outside off, Woakes pushes it to deep point and takes a single. |
| 57.2 : S Smith to Bairstow, Shorter this time, Bairstow punches it off the back foot towards the off side. |
| 57.3 : S Smith to Bairstow, Fuller this time around off, Bairstow pushes this towards mid off. |
| 57.4 : S Smith to J Bairstow, Again full and around middle, it hits the inside edge of Bairstow's blade and onto the pads. |
| Australia review as an appeal for an LBW has been turned down. Looks to be missing off. It seems like a waste of a review. |
| 57.5 : Smith to Bairstow, NOT OUT! Looked like it was always going to miss the off pole and it does as the Hawk Eye confirms. Smith floats this one outside off, the ball pitches and straightens. Bairstow offers the leave and it hits his pad along the way to the keeper. Smith is not entirely convinced but Paine still takes the review and it is lost as the ball is missing the off pole by a big margin. Australia have lost both their reviews now and they will be hoping they do not live to regret it. |
| 57.6 : S Smith to Bairstow, Way outside off this time by Smith, Bairstow looks to play at it but misses. |
| 58.1 : N Lyon to Woakes, Tosses it up on middle, Woakes defends it. |
| 58.2 : N Lyon to Woakes, Flatter and on off, Woakes goes back and defends it onto the ground. |
| 58.3 : N Lyon to Woakes, Gives it a lot of air on middle, Woakes works it through mid-wicket for one. |
| 58.4 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On middle again, Bairstow flicks it through mid-wicket and takes another single. |
| 58.5 : N Lyon to Woakes, Down the leg side and Woakes does not play at it. |
| 58.6 : N Lyon to Woakes, Around off, Woakes lunges and pushes it to covers. |
| 59.1 : S Smith to Bairstow, Floats it up on off, Bairstow looks to defend but it goes off the inner half through the leg side for one. |
| 59.2 : S Smith to C Woakes, Loopy ball on off, this is hit to the man at mid off. |
| 59.3 : S Smith to Woakes, Flatter and on middle, CW goes back and defends it onto the ground. |
| 59.4 : S Smith to Woakes, The batsman rocks onto the back foot and punches the ball. One run added to the total. |
| 59.5 : S Smith to Bairstow, This is on the pads, it is worked through square leg for one. |
| 59.6 : S Smith to C Woakes, Edged and away! Smith bowls it very full on middle, Woakes looks to drive it down the ground but it turns away. It goes off the outside edge but wide of the first slip fielder and down towards third man for two. |
| 60.1 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Flatter and on off, JB goes back and keeps it out. |
| 60.2 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On middle, this is worked to the man at short leg. |
| 60.3 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Lands it on middle again, Bairstow works it with the turn to mid-wicket. |
| 60.4 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On middle, Jonny works it through square leg and takes one. |
| 60.5 : N Lyon to Woakes, Now from over the wicket, he lands it on off, the ball turns back in. Woakes goes back, lets the ball do its bit and then works it towards square leg for one. 200 up for England. |
| 60.6 : N Lyon to Bairstow, One more single as another delivery is worked through square leg for one. THAT WILL BE TEA ON DAY 2! |
| This session - 34 overs, 125 runs, 4 wickets and a run rate of close to 4. End of a long but a very good session of Test cricket! Another one which in the end can be said will be shared. However, one can argue, Australia at the moment do hold the edge. They had the perfect start to this session as they got rid of Denly early. Then Burns followed. Buttler and Stokes did not last for long too. Just as it seemed another English collapse is on the cards, Woakes and Bairstow stepped up. The two playe |
| Australia on the other hand, can be pleased with how they bowled. All the four bowlers picked a wicket in this session. However, since it was a longer session, it did seem like they were tiring towards the end and hence, run scoring got a little easy for the current English pair. They now though will get a little rest and hope to come out after the break and bundle England out as quickly as possible. Will they be able to do so? We will have to wait a while to find out. |
| ... Day 2, Session 3 ... |
| The Australian players walk out for the final time today! They are followed by the English batters, Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes. 37 overs left in the day so we are in for another long session. Jonny Bairstow will take strike and he will be facing Josh Hazlewood. Here we go... |
| 61.1 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Good length on the off pole to start with. Bairstow blocks it out towards the off side. |
| 61.2 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Fuller and on middle, pushed towards mid on by JB. |
| 61.3 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Yorker just outside off, Jonny jams it out towards the point region. |
| 61.4 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, First run after the break. This is on a good length on middle, Jonny dabs it towards the leg side and takes a single. |
| 61.5 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Length ball just outside off, Woakes lets it be. |
| 61.6 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Good ball to finish off the over. Good length ball just outside off, Woakes tries to defend at it but misses as he plays inside the line. Good start after the break for Australia. |
| Pat Cummins to bowl from the other end. He has a wicket to his name in his 14 overs. Australia would love one more here. |
| 62.1 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Good length ball on the middle pole by Cummins, JB blocks it out. |
| 62.2 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, This time just outside off, Jonny plays it towards the short cover fielder. |
| 62.3 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Bouncer! Cummins hits this one hard on the deck, the ball rises near Bairstow's head. He ducks under it and the ball goes to the keeper. |
| 62.4 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Outside off, Bairstow lets it be. |
| 62.5 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Fuller this time outside the off pole, Bairstow drives it towards mid off powerfully. It goes straight towards the fielder standing there. |
| 62.6 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Outside off on a length, Bairstow lets it through to the keeper. |
| 63.1 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Close to the stumps, good length ball just outside off. Woakes knows exactly where his stumps are and he lets it through to the keeper. |
| 63.2 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, This one moves away after pitching, Woakes does not fiddle with it. |
| 63.3 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Similar line this time too, Woakes again lets it be. |
| 63.4 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Woakes is patiently waiting for the bad delivery. He again leaves this ball which is way outside off. |
| 63.5 : J Hazlewood to Woakes, Finally Hazlewood attacks the stumps, Woakes swivels towards the off side and plays it towards mid-wicket to take a single. |
| 63.6 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Fuller this time to Bairstow, he just drives it powerfully down the ground. It hits the stumps at the bowler's end and then the legs of the umpire. No runs taken. |
| 64.1 : Pat Cummins to C Woakes, Wide! Bouncer, but way too high over the head of Woakes. |
| Pat Cummins to Woakes, Another bumper but this time much lower, near head height. Woakes goes for the hook but misses. Probably getting a tad bit frustrated. |
| Sarvesh - 'England were 201 in 61 overs. Have they scored only 3 runs in 3 overs?' @Sarvesh - Well, one can understand your impatience but the session has just begun. Another 15 minutes of watchfulness and we might see some leather hunting. |
| 64.2 : Pat Cummins to Woakes, SIX! Cummins again goes for the shorter one. Woakes looks to pull but top edges it and the ball flies over the fine leg fence for a biggie. Woakes had no idea where this one went. |
| 64.3 : Pat Cummins to Woakes, Down the leg side this time by Cummins, Woakes tries to flick but misses. |
| 64.4 : Cummins to Woakes, Right on the temple! That must have really hurt Woakes. He seems really shook at the moment. A short one on middle, this one does not bounce a lot. Woakes looks to duck but is hit straight on the helmet. He takes a few seconds to get back to his feet. Cummins and the close-in Australian fielders straightaway walk towards him to see whether he is fine. |
| The physio is out to have a look. Woakes is taking his time and rightly so. The concussion test is being held and also a few other helmets are begin brought. The good thing is though, he seems fine. |
| 64.5 : Pat Cummins to Woakes, In the air... but safe! Cummins goes short again and on the body. Woakes takes his eyes off the ball and then tries to pull. He is early in the pull. It goes off the toe-end up in the air but well short of mid on. He is really not comfortable with the short balls at the moment. |
| Caught behind! Or is he? Woakes has been adjudged caught down the leg side by umpire Aleem Dar. Woakes though, says he is not sure and takes the review. Here comes Ultra Edge. A spike when the ball passes the glove. End of the 72-run stand. |
| 64.6 : Cummins to C Woakes, OUT! There is spike on Ultra Edge and Woakes has to walk back. He takes a review along with him. Not sure why he reviewed, you would always know if you have got something on the ball as a batter. End of a good stand for England though. Australia will be delighted as they have broken the 72-run stand. Another short one, Woakes is just not comfortable with these kind of deliveries. This is on the body. Woakes shuffles across and looks to pull but it goes off the glove an |
| Jofra Archer is the new man in. |
| 65.1 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, FOUR! Deft! Shorter and just outside off, Bairstow waits for it and the guides it through backward point for a boundary. He is playing really well out there. Into the 40s now. |
| 65.2 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Full ball just outside the off pole, Bairstow drives this towards the covers. The man there dives to his left and makes a brilliant stop. |
| 65.3 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Full again but this time on middle, Bairstow pushes it towards mid on. |
| 65.4 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Good length ball on the off pole, Bairstow gets an inside edge onto the pads as the ball rolls towards cover-point. |
| 65.5 : J Hazlewood to J Bairstow, Fullish and on off, driven towards covers by Bairstow. |
| 65.6 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Hazlewood goes for the bouncer, Bairstow ducks under it and lets it through to the keeper. |
| 66.1 : Pat Cummins to Archer, A good short one to welcome the debutant. He ducks under it. |
| 66.2 : Pat Cummins to Archer, Another bumper, Archer once again ducks under it. |
| 66.3 : Pat Cummins to Archer, This is the third bouncer of the over. Umpire Aleem Dar signals the one bouncer warning. Archer tries to hook but misses the ball as it carries to the keeper. |
| 66.4 : Pat Cummins to Archer, Change of length this time, Archer does well to keep this good length ball down as Bancroft is standing at short leg to take the catch. |
| 66.5 : Pat Cummins to Archer, In the air... but too quick for short leg to react. This is shorter and on the body, Archer works it uppishly but it goes past short leg quickly and through square leg for one. |
| 66.6 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, On off, Bairstow plays it late towards the slip cordon. Second slip makes a good stop. |
| 67.1 : J Hazlewood to Archer, Good length ball outside off, Archer lets it be. |
| 67.2 : J Hazlewood to Archer, Fuller and attacking the stumps this time, Archer blocks it out. |
| 67.3 : J Hazlewood to Archer, Good length and outside off, shaping away further. Archer hangs his bat out but gets beaten. |
| 67.4 : J Hazlewood to Archer, FOUR! Poor ball! Short and outside off, Archer stands tall and cuts it over point for a boundary. |
| 67.5 : J Hazlewood to Archer, On a good length and around off, Archer guides it to point. |
| 67.6 : J Hazlewood to Archer, Good batting! Archer pushes this good length ball towards the cover region and takes one. |
| 68.1 : Pat Cummins to Archer, Shorter one by Cummins to Archer on the leg side, he ducks under it and lets it through to the keeper. |
| 68.2 : Pat Cummins to Archer, Another shorter one on the leg pole line, Archer keeps his eyes in the ball and ducks under it. |
| 68.3 : Pat Cummins to Archer, FOUR! Gift gladly accepted by Archer. Full on the pads of Archer, he just gets a nick on it and the ball races away to the fine leg fence. |
| 68.4 : Pat Cummins to Archer, Third bouncer of the over, Cummins bowls this one again on the leg pole line. |
| 68.5 : Pat Cummins to Archer, Well maneuvered by Archer here. Good length ball on his hips, he flicks it uppishly over short leg and takes a single. |
| 68.6 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Length ball on middle and off, Bairstow defends it off the back foot. |
| Nathan Lyon returns. 15-1-57-1 so far. |
| 69.1 : N Lyon to Archer, Full and around middle, watchfully defended. |
| 69.2 : N Lyon to Archer, On middle, Archer uses his wrists and guides it towards long on for a single. |
| 69.3 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Flat and wide outside off, Bairstow sweeps it towards deep square leg and takes two as the fielders in the deep cut it off. |
| 69.4 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Flat and on the hips of JB, he blocks it on the leg side. |
| 69.5 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Again on the leg side, Bairstow paddles it towards fine leg and takes a single. |
| 69.6 : N Lyon to Archer, Full and flat on off, Archer pushes it back towards mid off. |
| 70.1 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Good length ball on the off pole line, Bairstow gets on the front foot and pulls it towards deep square leg for a single. |
| 70.2 : Pat Cummins to Archer, OUT! CAUGHT! Great catch by Khawaja running back from gully! Cummins gets another one on a short ball. He bowls this one on the body. Archer looks to nudge it on the leg side. He closes the face of the bat early. A leading edge is induced and the ball balloons over Khawaja who runs back and takes a very good diving catch. Australia two wickets away from ending the England innings. |
| Stuart Broad is the new man in. |
| 70.3 : Pat Cummins to Broad, Good length ball on the legs to start off for Broad. He manages to keep it down and not give a chance to the short leg fielder. |
| 70.4 : Pat Cummins to Broad, Broad gets off the mark as he plays this length ball towards point. |
| 70.5 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, FOUR! Dismissed! Slightly short and on middle, JB picks the length early and smashes it through mid-wicket for a boundary. |
| 70.6 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Outside off, left alone. |
| 71.1 : N Lyon to Broad, Floated and wide outside off, Broad lets it be. |
| 71.2 : N Lyon to Broad, Again wide outside off, Broad does not fiddle with it. |
| 71.3 : N Lyon to Broad, This time also full and on the off side, Broad pushes it back towards mid off. |
| 71.4 : N Lyon to Broad, Floated and wide outside off, Broad lets it be. |
| 71.5 : N Lyon to Broad, Lyon trying to induce the drive but Broad is not interested as he lets it be. |
| 71.6 : N Lyon to Broad, Outside off, left alone. |
| 72.1 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Good length and outside off, this is left alone. |
| 72.2 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Fifty for Bairstow! He has played well to get his team to a competitive total on this surface but he will be looking to carry on. This is full and outside off, Bairstow powerfully pushes it towards deep extra cover and takes a single to complete his half ton. |
| 72.3 : Pat Cummins to Broad, DROPPED AND FOUR! Length ball on the off side this by Cummins, Broad tries to play it towards fine leg but gets a top edge on it. The ball goes over the slip cordon towards third man loopily. David Warner gives it a chase, dives forward, gets two hands to it but can not collect it properly. He will be disappointed that he couldn't catch that and Broad survives this time. |
| 72.4 : Pat Cummins to Broad, FOUR BYES! Way down the leg side by Cummins. No chance for the keeper as the ball clips the pads of Broad and goes further away from him. Four byes signalled. |
| 72.5 : Pat Cummins to Broad, Good fielding! Saves two for his side. Shorter and on middle, Cummins this plays a controlled pull shot through square leg. The fielder in the deep runs to his left, dives and stops it. |
| 72.6 : Pat Cummins to Broad, A bumper to end! Broad ducks under it. |
| 73.1 : N Lyon to J Bairstow, Floats it up on middle, this is worked towards mid-wicket. |
| 73.2 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Swept and swept hard but just for a single towards deep square leg. |
| 73.3 : N Lyon to Broad, FOUR! Broad gets into the position of playing a paddle sweep early. Lyon looks to fire it but ends up bowling a full toss. Broad uses the pace and hits it to the fine leg fence. 250 up for England. |
| 73.4 : N Lyon to Broad, Flatter and on off, Broad guides it to point. |
| 73.5 : N Lyon to Broad, OUT! TIMBER! No. 9 goes down! Lyon gets his second. This is the arm ball on off and it keeps coming in with the angle. Broad looks to defend but does so outside the line. It goes off the inside edge and kiss the leg pole. Another handy stand for England comes to an end. |
| Jack Leach is the last man in for England. The last time he batted for England he scored 92. England would be happy if he can get even half of those right now. |
| 73.6 : N Lyon to Leach, OHHH! This is flatter and on off, it turns away after pitching. Leach looks to defend but is beaten by the away turn. |
| 74.1 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 74.2 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Length ball just outside off, Bairstow again leaves it. He should be looking to score some runs here as this is the last wicket. |
| 74.3 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Fuller ball on off, Bairstow blocks it out towards mid off. |
| 74.4 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Fullish ball on off, Bairstow plays it back to the bowler. |
| 74.5 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Powerful punch this time towards covers to this full ball outside off. The fielder there gathers it. No runs taken. |
| 74.6 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, A loud LBW appeal by Australia but turned down by Aleem Dar. Good length ball on off side going with angle toward the pads of Bairstow. Bairstow tries to flick it but misses to get hit on the pads. A loud appeal follows but the umpire shakes his head. The Hawk Eye comes in and shows and confirms that the umpire got his decision spot on as the ball was going down the leg pole. |
| 75.1 : N Lyon to Leach, On middle, Leach lunges and keeps it out. |
| 75.2 : N Lyon to Leach, On the stumps again, Leach is solid in defense again. |
| 75.3 : N Lyon to Leach, Defended off the front foot by the batsman presenting the full face of the bat. |
| 75.4 : N Lyon to Leach, On the pads, Leach works it through square leg and takes two. |
| 75.5 : N Lyon to Leach, Slower through the air on middle, this is defended onto the ground. |
| 75.6 : N Lyon to Leach, Fuller and on middle, Leach hits it back to the bowler. |
| Josh Hazlewood is back into the attack. He has been the best bowler for Australia today. Can he get the last wicket now? |
| 76.1 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Fullish ball just outside the off pole, Bairstow plays it towards mid on. |
| 76.2 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Full ball again on middle and off, Bairstow plays it towards silly mid on where Warner is placed. |
| 76.3 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, On the body of Bairstow, he awkwardly keeps it down on the leg side as the ball takes the inside edge of the bat. |
| 76.4 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Bairstow plays this good length ball towards deep mid-wicket and takes a single. |
| 76.5 : J Hazlewood to Leach, Play and a miss! Hazlewood bowls this one on middle and the ball goes away from Leach with the angle. Leach tries to play at it but fails as he does so inside the line of the delivery. |
| 76.6 : J Hazlewood to Leach, FOUR! Handy runs for England here as Leach dispatches this for a boundary. This one is on the body of Leach, little bit down the leg side. He just nudges it fine, wide of the keeper and the ball crashes into the fine leg fence. |
| 77.1 : N Lyon to Bairstow, OUT! In the air... taken! End of the England innings! Bairstow is the last man to fall and Lyon is the one who takes the last wicket. This is floated up on middle, Bairstow looks to play the slog sweep. He tries to take on the bowler but only manages a top edge towards deep mid-wicket. Khawaja in the deep runs ahead and takes it nicely. ENGLAND HAVE BEEN BOWLED OUT FOR 258! |
| The Lord's gets up as one to applaud Jonny Bairstow off the park. From 138/6, to almost double the score is a really good effort. The batting line-up which is touted to be strong, did show its depth. |
| However, let us focus on Tim Paine and Australia. After winning the toss and electing to bowl, if you can bowl the opposition out for around 250, you have done a decent job. The spotlight was on the comeback man, Josh Hazlewood, who sparkled with his 3 wickets. Nathan Lyon took care of the middle order while Cummins got 3 as well. A really good bowling performance where it was not a one-man show. |
| England will be happy with the momentum, but not with the score. If truth be told, they only had difficulty in playing out the first hour where they lost Roy and Root. But after that, their batsmen got starts but could not convert. The likes of Burns, Denly, Buttler and Stokes, all got their eye in but could not make a big impact. |
| The hosts were in trouble at 138/6 when Bairstow and Woakes joined forces. Their 72-run stand gave some respectability to the total and got the score beyond 200. After Woakes fell, Jonny marshalled the tail to get the score past 250. |
| 19 overs left in the day. Around an hour to go. The Aussie bowlers will be hoping to rest their feet in the dressing room for a day at least. How many wickets can England get before Stumps? They can have one of the Aussie bowlers in as a night watchman then. Stay tuned for the Aussie reply. |
| 0.1 : S Broad to Bancroft, Australia and Bancroft are underway! Broad starts off with a very straight delivery, CB shuffles right across and works it through mid-wicket for one. Had he missed that, it would have been close. |
| 0.2 : S Broad to Warner, Straightaway comes from around the wicket to Warner and lands it outside off, Warner makes a leave. |
| 0.3 : S Broad to Warner, Fuller and around off, Warner drives it square on the off side but straight to point. Good confident shot that one. |
| 0.4 : S Broad to Warner, Very short and way too wide outside off, Warner lets it be. |
| 0.5 : S Broad to Warner, Another one on a fuller length outside off, Warner makes a leave. |
| 0.6 : S Broad to Warner, A dot to end! On middle, Warner keeps it out. |
| Jofra Archer comes onto bowl. The last time he bowled at Lord's was the Super Over in the World Cup final and it was from this end. This though is a completely different challenge. He was brilliant with the white ball and I am very excited to see how he goes about with the red ball. Here he comes to bowl his first ball. |
| 1.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Shorter and outside off, Bancroft lets it be. |
| 1.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, FOUR BYES! But what a delivery. This lands outside off and jags back in. Bancroft has a gap between bat and pad as he tries to defend. It sneaks through and keeps going away from Bairstow too who dives to his left but fails to stop it. A boundary. |
| 1.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, A good short one now! The batter ducks under it. |
| 1.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, Another one outside off, it has been left alone. |
| 1.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, A single! This is on middle, once again Archer gets it to jag back in. CB looks to defend but it goes off the inner half through square leg for one. |
| 1.6 : J Archer to Warner, A solid push! Fuller and on off, Warner strokes it towards cover for one. Warner is off the mark. A testing over from Archer comes to an end. |
| 2.1 : S Broad to Warner, Good length and outside off, it has been left alone. |
| 2.2 : S Broad to Warner, This is angled into the batter, Warner defends it onto the ground. |
| 2.3 : S Broad to Warner, This is angled into the batter, Warner works it to the man at square leg. |
| 2.4 : S Broad to Warner, Leading edge but runs! This is fuller and into the pads, Warner is falling over as he tries to flick. It goes off the leading edge through covers for two. |
| 2.5 : S Broad to D Warner, Edged but short! Broad almost got Warner for the third time in a row! Fuller and around off, this one holds its length after pitching. Warner looks to push at it by staying rooted to his crease. The ball goes off the outside edge but short of second slip. |
| 2.6 : S Broad to Warner, Another one angled into the batter, Warner defends it out. |
| 3.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Length ball outside off, Bancroft lets it through to the keeper. |
| 3.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Archer attacking the stumps now, he bowls this one fuller and around off pole. Bancroft blocks it out towards the covers and takes a single. |
| 3.3 : J Archer to Warner, Another full ball outside off, Warner plays it towards mid off. |
| Seems like a friendly warning from umpire Chris Gaffaney to Jofra Archer for running on the danger area. Nothing official. |
| 3.4 : J Archer to Warner, Beaten! Archer is bowling well here on his debut. Full again outside off, David tries to defend this one but the ball pitches and straightens and goes past the outside edge of Warner's blade. |
| 3.5 : J Archer to Warner, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the backfoot. |
| 3.6 : J Archer to Warner, The batsman goes after a wide one but misses. |
| 4.1 : S Broad to Bancroft, Back of a length on off, Bancroft pushes it towards cover. |
| 0.0 : What are we seeing here? Replays have rolled in for the ball on which Archer had beaten the outside edge of Warner's bat (3.4) but it seemed that he did not. However, there was a spike on Ultra Edge as the ball went past the bat and if the English team would have appealed or reviewed, Warner would have been back in the hut by now! |
| 4.2 : Broad to D Warner, OUT! Knocked him over! Does not matter if the Warner nick was not appealed, there is no appeal needed here! Three in three for Broad against Warner in this series! Top class delivery and the crowd here is going bonkers. England are ecstatic. Early strike for them and another failure for Warner. Broad once again lands this on a length and around off, it jags back in and also skids through. Warner looks to defend but leaves a gap between bat and pad. The ball sneaks through |
| Usman Khawaja is the new man in for the Aussies. |
| 4.3 : S Broad to Khawaja, Good length and outside off, left alone. The crowd is right behind Broad at the moment. |
| 4.4 : S Broad to Khawaja, Back of a length on off, Khawaja guides it to point. |
| 4.5 : S Broad to Khawaja, Fuller and on off, Khawaja times it through covers. It does not go all the way but a couple results. UK is off the mark. |
| 4.6 : S Broad to Khawaja, That is a beauty! Not a lot you can do with that. From around the wicket, he angles it into the off pole and then gets it to leave the batter. Khawaja looks to push at it but gets beaten. End of a wonderful over by Broad. |
| 5.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Another good delivery. This is on off and then straightens. Squares Bancroft up as he tries to defend. |
| 5.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Good length again and outside off, this is left alone. |
| 5.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, Another one on a length and outside off, CB lets it be. |
| 5.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, This time gets the ball to come back in but the line is a little too wide outside off. Left alone. |
| 5.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, One more delivery on a length and outside off, left alone. |
| 5.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, On a good length again around off, this is guided towards point. |
| 6.1 : S Broad to Khawaja, Fuller and outside off, Khawaja lets it be. |
| 6.2 : S Broad to Khawaja, Closer to the off pole this time but not close enough to make the batter play. |
| 6.3 : S Broad to Khawaja, Slightly fuller again and on off, Khawaja guides it to the man at point. |
| 6.4 : S Broad to Khawaja, Lovely, lovely stuff this! Once again angles this on off and gets it to shape away. Khawaja defends inside the line and gets beaten. |
| 6.5 : Broad to Khawaja, Another lovely delivery! This is on middle, it pitches and straightens once again. Khawaja looks to defend but misses to get hit high on the pads. |
| 6.6 : S Broad to Khawaja, FOUR! First boundary off the bat in this innings! A little too straight to end. Khawaja stylishly clips it through mid-wicket and the ball races away to the fence. |
| 7.1 : J Archer to C Bancroft, Well fielded! This is fuller outside off, Bancroft looks to drive but it goes off the inner half to the right of short leg. Buttler sticks his hand out and stops it. |
| 7.2 : J Archer to C Bancroft, A short one on middle, too high. Bancroft evades it. JB leaps and collects it nicely. |
| 7.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, Good length and outside off, left alone. |
| 7.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, Well bowled again! On off and once again the ball straightens and causes problem for the batter. CB defends the original trajectory but is beaten. |
| 7.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, Looks to hit the pads of Bancroft as he bowls it on middle, Cameron gets his bat down in time and works it to mid-wicket. |
| 7.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, On middle again, this is shorter. CB nudges it to short leg. |
| 8.1 : S Broad to Khawaja, Good running! Back of a length ball on off, Khawaja taps it towards cover for one. |
| 8.2 : S Broad to Bancroft, This is angled into the pads, CB defends it out. |
| 8.3 : S Broad to Bancroft, This is angled into the pads of the batter, he works it through mid-wicket for one. |
| 8.4 : S Broad to Khawaja, This is on off, Khawaja is solid in defense. |
| 8.5 : S Broad to Khawaja, Works it with the angle towards mid-wicket and gets to the other end. |
| 8.6 : S Broad to Bancroft, Once again looks to hit the pads of Bancroft as Broad goes full and on middle. CB gets his bat down in time and works it to mid-wicket. |
| Chris Woakes is on now! He has a brilliant record on this ground. England would love for him to take a wicket at least. |
| 9.1 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Good length ball on the hips of Khawaja, he nudges it towards fine leg and takes a couple. |
| 9.2 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Good leave or not? Well we can't decide on this one. The ball is pitched on middle and off, it straightens after pitching. Khawaja shoulders arms to it but the ball goes from just above the stumps. Too close for comfort. |
| 9.3 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Length ball outside off, the batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 9.4 : C Woakes to Khawaja, No run. The batsman chooses to leave the ball outside his off stump. |
| 9.5 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Another beauty by Woakes, Khawaja leaves this one again but it hits him on the stomach. He's playing dangerously right now. |
| 9.6 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Again wide outside off, UK lets it through to the keeper. |
| Change of ends for Jofra Archer. |
| 10.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Shorter and on off, Bancroft stands tall and pushes it to covers. |
| 10.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Another length ball outside off, CB lets it be. |
| 10.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bowls this one short on the leg pole line, Bancroft ducks and lets it through to the keeper. |
| 10.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, Mixing his length up nicely here Archer, this time bowls full. Cameron gets his bat down in time. |
| 10.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, BEATEN! Another beauty by Archer. He bowls this just outside off on a good length, forcing the batsman to come onto the front foot. Bancroft plays at it but misses as the ball straightens very late. |
| 10.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bancroft leaves this one alone. Archer finishes off a very good over. |
| 11.1 : C Woakes to Khawaja, On a good length and around off, Khawaja blocks it out. |
| 11.2 : C Woakes to U Khawaja, Shorter and around off, comes off slow of the surface. Khawaja is early in the pull. It goes off the toe-end and falls short of Roy at second slip. He gets a hand to it but can't stop it. It goes towards third man for one. Second slip does the mopping up job. |
| 11.3 : C Woakes to Bancroft, Good length ball on middle and off, Bancroft moves across the stumps and blocks it out back to the bowler. |
| 11.4 : C Woakes to Bancroft, Similar line and length, CB again defends it nicely. |
| 11.5 : C Woakes to C Bancroft, It is a back of a length ball by Woakes, Bancroft is early into the shot and gets a thick outside edge as the ball rolls towards third man. |
| 11.6 : C Woakes to Bancroft, Length ball on the leg side, it hits the thigh pads of Bancroft and the ball rolls towards the vacant short leg. |
| 12.1 : J Archer to Khawaja, Good running! You don't see batters running 4 runs these days, do you. This is full and on the pads of Khawaja, he flicks it towards mid-wicket nonchalantly and sets off. Buttler from short leg goes running to collect the ball near the fence and does so but by then the batters had run a quadruple. |
| 12.2 : J Archer to Khawaja, The batsman has been struck on the thigh pad. |
| 12.3 : J Archer to Khawaja, Fuller and on middle, Khawaja strokes it down towards long on for two. |
| 12.4 : J Archer to Khawaja, Shorter and on the body, it is worked through mid-wicket for one. |
| 12.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, Way down the leg side, Bancroft looks to flick but misses. Bairstow does well to make a half stop diving to his left. No runs conceded. |
| 12.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, On the off pole, defended. That is it for today. STUMPS ON DAY 2! |
| A very entertaining day of cricket today! The match is evenly poised at the moment. Yes, Australia did lose Warner but Cameron Bancroft and Khawaja hung in there, survived the hostile bowling from the England pacers and have brought down the deficit to 228. |
| The day began with Australia winning the toss and electing to field. They had England on the mat at 138 for 6 but then Bairstow along with the lower order took England to a very competitive total. He scored a half ton along the way and was the last wicket to fall. For Australia it was a combined effort from the bowlers but Cummins and Hazlewood were probably the pick. The latter ran through the top order and the former took wickets of the batters from the middle order. |
| Australia in reply, have lost Warner early but Bancroft and Khawaja have done well to ensure no more wickets fell. On Day 3, the wicket will probably be easier to bat on at the start and Australia will hope to cash in. England on the other hand, need to keep taking wickets regularly and hope to go into their second innings with a lead. There is rain predicted on Friday but we should get play. Do join us for the action which begins at 1100 local (1000 GMT). Till then, take care and goodbye! |
| ... Day 3, Session 1 ... |
| Good morning and a warm welcome, or should I say a cloudy welcome to the third day of the second Ashes Test. We do have good news for you, as it seems like play will start today on time as well. However, there are forecasts for showers later today so let's keep our fingers crossed. |
| At the end of day 2, Australia are 30/1 and trail the English by 228 runs. The Aussies lost the wicket of Warner late in the day yesterday and suffered an early setback in their innings. Broad and Archer bowled well towards the end and will be looking to continue their good momentum. Khawaja and Bancroft, on the other hand, will be looking to provide a solid foundation to the Australian innings and cut the deficit as much as they can. |
| Yesterday, one can say that both the sides shared the day. England were 26/2 before Burns and Denly steadied the ship with a 66-run stand. They again had a collapse post lunch, but Bairstow and Woakes again stitched up a partnership of 72 runs as they took England from 138/6 to 210/7. Burns and Bairstow both scored half a ton as England crossed the 250-run mark. For the Men Down Under, it was a good day of bowling as Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon took three wickets apiece, and Siddle took one. The |
| Australia should consider themselves really lucky that they lost just one wicket yesterday as the ball was moving a lot. The first hour today will be crucial for them because if they lose wickets early on, the tide could completely swing England's way. Let's wait and see how the Aussies respond in these testing conditions. |
| 'Looks to be a bowling day,' says David 'Bumble' Lloyd on air. And he ain't incorrect. It is a gloomy morning, with plenty of overcast skies and Australia will have a pretty stern examination of their batting technique. Here is Stuart Broad to UK in the UK, with three slips in place. Here we go... |
| 13.1 : S Broad to Khawaja, Good length ball on the pads, Khawaja tickles it off his pads towards fine leg to start off the day with a couple. Leach dives and keeps the ball in play. |
| 13.2 : S Broad to Khawaja, Similar ball again, angling into Khawaja from Broad, he again flicks it towards fine leg and takes a couple. |
| 13.3 : S Broad to Khawaja, Again on the hips, played to mid-wicket by Usman. |
| 13.4 : S Broad to Khawaja, On the leg side, played to square leg. |
| 13.5 : S Broad to Khawaja, Pitched just outside off on a length, the ball shapes back in a bit and misses the stumps by a small margin. Khawaja was sure where his wickets are and lets it go. |
| 13.6 : S Broad to Khawaja, Wide outside off, Khawaja lets it go. Comfortable start for Australia so far. |
| Archer to share the ball with Broad from the other end. |
| 14.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Good ball, full and on a driving length by Archer. Bancroft plays it towards mid off. |
| 0.0 : Plenty of predictions, at least here in our com box. Selfie, who likes taking pictures of mother nature with himself taking centrestage, has a smile on his face looking at the skies at Lord's considering that he himself is a fast bowler. 'Lovely conditions to bowl', he says. Then his face contracts a little (because he is an Aussie supporter) and adds, 'I feel England will bundle out Australia cheaply'. Another one, Suraj, reckons that it is going to be Cameron Bancroft's day as he finds his luc |
| 14.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Wide outside off, Bancroft lets this one through. |
| 14.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, Close one this for Bancroft. He shuffles across the stumps to block this one out but gets an inside edge on it. The ball rolls uppishly towards fine leg as the batters cross and take a single. There was a leg gully in place and the ball was not far away from him. Also, had Bancroft missed, it might have been plumb in front of the wickets. |
| 14.4 : J Archer to Khawaja, Down the leg side, Khawaja looks to flick but misses. |
| 14.5 : J Archer to Khawaja, Outside off and on a length, Khawaja leaves it. |
| 14.6 : J Archer to Khawaja, Well bowled bouncer by Archer on middle and leg, it hits the shoulder of Khawaja and goes to the keeper. England appeal but nothing doing for the umpire. |
| 15.1 : S Broad to Bancroft, Starts the second over with a good length ball outside off, Bancroft lets it go through to the keeper. |
| 15.2 : S Broad to Bancroft, Another good length ball, coming into the batsman, Bancroft blocks it by leaning into the shot. |
| 15.3 : S Broad to Bancroft, This is slightly fuller as Bancroft looks to defend but manages it with inner half of the bat. |
| 15.4 : S Broad to Bancroft, Fuller on again outside off, Bancroft tucks it towards cover to change ends. |
| 15.5 : S Broad to Khawaja, Dishes this on a fuller length again which was coming into the batsman, Khawaja pushes this to mid-wicket. |
| 15.6 : S Broad to Khawaja, Beaten! First one of the day. This was on fourth stump line outside off, Khawaja looks to fend at it and is beaten. Lucky not to edge there. |
| 16.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Short ball just outside off, Bancroft ducks away and lets it through to the keeper. |
| 16.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Outside off, CB shoulders arms to this one. |
| 16.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, Outside off again but this time fuller, Bancroft places it towards covers. |
| 16.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, Good ball by Archer, pitching on off, it nips in towards Bancroft. He misses the ball and gets hit on the thigh pad. |
| 16.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, Beaten! What a ball by Archer! Again similar line and length, this time the ball leaves Bancroft's bat. He is squared up and the ball goes past the outside edge. |
| 16.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, This time Bancroft manages to defend it as he gets right behind the line of the delivery on middle. The plan for England should be to bowl Archer in short and impactful spells. |
| 17.1 : S Broad to Khawaja, Shortish length coming into the left-hander, Khawaja blocks it off his back foot. |
| 17.2 : S Broad to Khawaja, Goes for a fuller one on middle, Khawaja defends this solidly again. |
| 17.3 : S Broad to Khawaja, Good length again from Broad, he is looking to hit the pads of Khawaja who again leans forward and blocks it well. |
| 17.4 : S Broad to Khawaja, Goes for a shorter one this time but the line is not right as Khawaj swivels to pull this through square leg. The ball was racing to the fence but Jack Leach hared at it from fine leg to make a diving stop. Stops two there. |
| 17.5 : S Broad to Khawaja, Good length ball outside off, Khawaja pushes it towards covers. |
| 17.6 : S Broad to Khawaja, This one is drifting in towards the stumps, Khawaja blocks it out. |
| 18.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Good length ball on off pole, Bancroft defends it towards the off side. |
| 18.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Short of a length this time and it hits Bancroft on the side of his stomach as he misses his flick towards fine leg. Looks to be in a little bit of pain here Bancroft. |
| 18.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, FOUR LEG BYES! Again near the hips and waist of Bancroft, the ball hits waist and rises of it over the keeper's head as the ball races towards the fine leg fence. |
| 18.4 : J Archer to C Bancroft, FOUR! Edged this time but runs for Bancroft. First boundary in 53 balls for Bancroft. Wow that took a while! Bowled full and outside off, Bancroft goes for the cover drive but thick edges it. The ball goes towards the third man fence for a boundary. Streaky but will do for the Aussies. |
| 18.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, Wide down the leg side, the batsman leaves it alone. |
| 18.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bouncer and Bancroft does well to get out of the way as he ducks and the ball goes through to the keeper. |
| Short spell here for Broad as Woakes comes into the attack now. |
| 19.1 : C Woakes to U Khawaja, FOUR! Lucky boundary! Woakes starts with a good length ball on middle, Khawaja looks to defend but gets an outside edge which goes wide of the third slip. Races to the fence. |
| 19.2 : C Woakes to U Khawaja, This is slightly fuller from Woakes, Khawaja again gets an outside edge but the ball doesn't carry to third slip. |
| 19.3 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Good length ball on middle, tucked towards square leg by Usman. |
| 19.4 : C Woakes to U Khawaja, FOUR! This time bowled shorter and outside off, Usman stands tall and punches it towards the cover-point fence. |
| 19.5 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Slightly shorter outside off from Woakes, Khawaja with a chance to open his arms. He goes with the short and slams this through point for a boundary. Third of the over. |
| 19.6 : C Woakes to Khawaja, This is fuller on middle, Khawaja flicks it to mid-wicket. |
| 20.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Length ball outside off, left alone by Cameron. |
| 20.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Good length just outside off, Bancrofts gets squared up on this one and the ball hits the outside edge of his bat. However, the ball just goes onto the pitch. Oohs and Aahs by the English. |
| 20.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, Outside off length ball, CB lets it go. |
| 20.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bouncer and Bancroft does well to evade it. The ball goes through to the keeper. |
| 20.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, Oohh! Bancroft looks to flick this leg side ball on the pads and misses. Some noise on that but looks like it hits the pads of Bancroft. |
| 20.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, Fuller this one near the pads, Bancroft pushes this one through mid on where Broad gives it a chase and the batters take a couple. Australia cruising along apparently. |
| 21.1 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Ohh! That was very close. Good length ball on off, goes slightly away from the batsman as he lets this go. Looked in two mind there but left it alone eventually. |
| 21.2 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Fifth stump line outside off, Khawaja leaves this alone. |
| 21.3 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Another one on fifth stump line but shortish in length, Khawaja has no business with it. |
| 21.4 : C Woakes to Khawaja, This is slightly short but is on middle, Khawaja blocks off his back foot. |
| 21.5 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Good length ball on off, it shapes away further from the left-hander who shoulder arms again. |
| 21.6 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Another good length ball outside off, Khawaja lets this go to the keeper again. |
| 22.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Archer continues here. Bowls a length ball here and it hits Bancroft on the thigh pad. |
| 22.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bowls another length ball here and it hits Bancroft in the box. Painful but he is okay. |
| 22.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, Another good bouncer by Archer. Bancroft ducks under it. |
| 22.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, Defended off the back foot by Bancroft. |
| 'Looks a bit high!' says Bancroft to Khawaja. Cameron has been adjudged LBW here by Aleem Dar. Here comes Hawk Eye. Clipping the top of the stumps! Review is not lost but Bancroft's wicket is... |
| 22.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, OUT! LBW! Archer gets his first Test wicket! A gritty innings by Bancroft comes to an end and so does the 49-run stand between Khawaja and him. Jofra bowls this one on a good length outside off. The ball nips back in after pitching and the ball hits the pads of Bancroft as he shuffles across the stumps in his usual way as he attempts to block this one out. However, he does so outside the line and Bancroft is caught in front of the wicket. Bancroft goes for the review |
| Last game's centurion Steve Smith to join Khawaja in the middle now. Smith vs Archer now! What has Root set for him? Two slips, a short leg and a leg slip. Here we go... the most awaited contest of this week... |
| 22.6 : J Archer to Smith, Outside off on a length, Smith leaves his first ball alone. Finally a successful over for England and Archer is the man. Maiden-wicket it is for the youngster. |
| 23.1 : C Woakes to Khawaja, Shortish length on off, shapes away from Khawaja who lets it be. |
| 23.2 : C Woakes to Khawaja, OUT! Caught! Khawaja is out of here now! Good length ball outside off, Khawaja pokes at the ball with no feet movement whatsoever. There is an outside edge Bairstow is not going to drop that. Australia in a spot of bother here. |
| Travis Head comes in at number 4, replacing Khawaja. The rain is falling a bit heavier now... |
| 23.3 : C Woakes to Head, Good length ball outside off to Head first up, he leaves this alone through to the keeper. |
| 23.4 : C Woakes to Head, Beaten! What a beauty from Woakes! Shortish length on middle, squares up Head completely as he looks to fend at the ball. Very close to getting an edge and have some early lunch with Khawaja. |
| 23.5 : C Woakes to Head, MIX-UP, SAFE! Nervy moments for Australia. Full and around middle, stays low, Head crouches to flick this towards square leg and sets off for a single. Smith immediately responds but then Travis changes his mind. Steve has to go back and the throw comes at the bowler's end but misses. Smith was in anyways. |
| 23.6 : C Woakes to Head, Good length on fifth stump line, Head is not going to fend at that. |
| 24.1 : J Archer to Smith, Smith is off the mark. Good bowling this from Archer. On middle but shortish in length, Smith works it awkwardly towards leg side to take a run. |
| 24.2 : J Archer to Head, Beaten! This kept slightly low. Outside off on a fuller length as Head looks to play at it to get beaten. |
| 24.3 : J Archer to Head, Full and outside off, Travis is nowhere close to the ball as he looks to defend and is comprehensively beaten. |
| 24.4 : J Archer to Head, This on the hips, comes in from good length on middle as Head pushes it towards mid-wicket. |
| 24.5 : J Archer to Head, The batsman flicks it away with a wristy shot. |
| 24.6 : J Archer to Head, Too high! Archer bangs this short but it is too high, Bairstow leaps to get a hand to it. The batters looked for a run but decided against it. |
| 25.1 : C Woakes to Smith, Good length ball just outside off, Smith blocks it out towards the off side. |
| 25.2 : C Woakes to Smith, Another length ball outside off, Smith again defends it towards covers. |
| 25.3 : C Woakes to Smith, This time on a length, the ball pitches outside off and comes back in. Smith offers the leave but gets hit high on the thigh pad outside off. |
| 25.4 : C Woakes to Smith, Loud appeal by England but turned down. This time down the leg side, Smith looks to flick this one but misses. The ball hits the thigh pad and Bairstow dives to his left and grabs it. The English players appeal as they thought there was some bat on it but the umpire disagrees. |
| 25.5 : C Woakes to Smith, Unorthodox leave by Smith to this length ball outside off. But well, that's his way and if one looks at the results it has given him no one would be too unhappy about it. Smith and his leaves - very peculiar. Takes his bat skywards and after the ball passes, brings the willow down like attempting to swat a fly. |
| 25.6 : C Woakes to Smith, Again outside off, Smith leaves it again. Maiden by Woakes. England continue their consistent bowling. |
| 26.1 : J Archer to Head, Good length delivery outside off from Archer, Head leaves this ball alone. That shaped a tad away from the batsman and Bairstow failed to collect it cleanly and he gets hit on the thumb. He looks in pain there, taking his time. |
| 0.0 : We are in for a slight delay as the physio is looking after Bairstow's thumb. Meanwhile, the umpires have called for the Drinks Break. |
| 26.2 : J Archer to Head, Length ball outside off, Head lets it go but is a tad bit late in doing. He should be more careful about it. |
| 26.3 : J Archer to Head, Fuller this time and on the middle pole, Head is late to bring his bat down and gets an outside edge on it as the ball rolls towards cover-point. |
| 26.4 : J Archer to Head, Full and way outside off, Travis lets it be. |
| 26.5 : J Archer to Head, Again this time full on the off pole, Head defends it towards point. |
| 26.6 : J Archer to Head, Down the leg side, Head looks to flick it but misses. |
| 27.1 : C Woakes to Smith, Good length ball on middle, Smith blocks it well and then does his antics. |
| 27.2 : C Woakes to Smith, Good length outside off, Smith lets this go through to the keeper. |
| 27.3 : C Woakes to Smith, On the hips of Smith, he works it round the corner towards fine leg and rotates the strike. |
| 27.4 : C Woakes to Head, Full ball outside off, Head lets it through to JB. |
| 27.5 : C Woakes to T Head, Great fielding and bowling here from England. Woakes bowls this one on a length on middle and off, the ball pitches and straightens. Head tries to push it towards covers but gets an inside edge onto it as the ball rolls towards fine leg in a jiffy. Leach there runs to his right, puts a dive in and again saves two runs for his side. He has been fielding well there throughout the day. Head gets off the mark, but in unconvincing fashion. |
| 27.6 : C Woakes to T Head, FOUR! Much better this time by Head. This again on a length, but outside off. Head goes onto the back foot and punches it towards covers and the ball races away to the fence. |
| Stuart Broad is back for another spell. 8-0-20-1 so far. |
| 28.1 : S Broad to Smith, Broad starts with a wide outside off delivery which is on the fifth stump, Smith lets this go to the keeper. |
| 28.2 : S Broad to Smith, Another one on the same line, goes further away as it passes the batsman, Smith is not fending at those. |
| 28.3 : S Broad to Smith, Goes at the stumps this time from a shortish length, Smith works it towards square leg to take couple of runs. |
| 28.4 : S Broad to Smith, This time a good length ball outside off, Smith leaves it again and then does his circus with the bat. |
| 28.5 : S Broad to Smith, This is closer one but still wide for Smith to play it it, lets it through to the keeper. |
| 28.6 : S Broad to Smith, Good length ball on off again from Broad as Smith is ready to leave it alone. He does his usual walk across on off side as he leaves this, the ball clips Smith's pad on its way to the keeper. |
| 29.1 : C Woakes to Head, Beaten! Good length ball on middle and off, it pitches and nips away from Head. He tries to block it out but does so inside the line and misses. |
| 29.2 : C Woakes to Head, This time on the legs of Travis, he clips it towards square leg and takes one. |
| 29.3 : C Woakes to Smith, Fuller, much fuller outside off, Smith blocks it out towards covers. |
| Jack Leach is getting ready to bowl it seems. He is getting loose at his fielding position. |
| 29.4 : C Woakes to Smith, Again full and on off, Smith blocks it out. |
| 29.5 : C Woakes to Smith, Outside off, Smith leaves this one late outside off. |
| 29.6 : C Woakes to Smith, Again wide and on a length outside off, Smith again leaves it. |
| That's out. That's out. That's so so out! Aleem Dar has turned down an appeal for LBW against Travis Head. Stuart Broad is shocked (as always) but this time the whole team supports him in that shock. Up goes Root's signal for the 'T'. Here comes Hawk Eye. Missing off. Missing leg. CRASHING into middle. Off goes Head. Thank god for reviews... |
| 30.1 : S Broad to Head, OUT! LBW! Australia lose their fourth wicket and third of the day. Loud appeal by England. Looks plumb to the naked eye but umpire Aleem Dar has denied it. The ball pitches just outside off and goes in with the angle. Head tries to block it out but misses to get hit on the front pad. Broad and the whole team are in disbelief as Aleem Dar denies the appeal. Root gives the 'T' and reviews it straightaway. The Hawk Eye comes in and shows three reds as the ball is crashing int |
| 0.0 : Matthew Wade walks in amidst a plethora of crisis. |
| 30.2 : S Broad to Wade, Good length ball outside off, came into the batsman, Wade blocks this one off his bakc foot. |
| 30.3 : S Broad to Wade, Slightly fuller outside off from Broad this time. Wade knows his off stump as he lets this go to the keeper. |
| 30.4 : S Broad to Wade, This is on good length but again wide of off stump, Wade leave this alone too. |
| 30.5 : S Broad to Wade, Fuller this time and it is on the middle, Wade leans into his shot to push this towards mid on. |
| 30.6 : S Broad to Wade, Fifth stumper this time on a good length. Wade leaves this alone. A wicket maiden from Broad. Australia need runs from this partnership. |
| 31.1 : C Woakes to Smith, FOUR! Smashed! Shortish one to Smith from Woakes which rises just perfect for Smith to pull this through square leg and collect a boundary. Very good shot. |
| 31.2 : C Woakes to Smith, Wide outside off on good length. Smith leaves this alone. |
| 31.3 : C Woakes to Smith, Shortish one again as Smith looks to open his arm and smash it through point. Finds the fielder at point. |
| 31.4 : C Woakes to Smith, Fuller this time, Smith blocks it coming forward. |
| 31.5 : C Woakes to Smith, On fifth stump line this time, Smith is not worried and lets this go. |
| The umbrellas are opening in the stands... |
| 31.6 : C Woakes to Smith, Shortish length on middle, Smith works it straight to Jofra Archer at mid-wicket. |
| 32.1 : S Broad to Wade, Good length on off, comes into the batter who blocks it off his back foot. |
| 32.2 : S Broad to Wade, Good length ball outside off, Wade looked to play at it initially but left it alone later. |
| 32.3 : S Broad to Wade, Goes wider this time on a good length, Wade lets it be. |
| 32.4 : S Broad to Wade, Good length on middle, Wade lunges to work it towards leg side. |
| 32.5 : S Broad to Wade, On a good length again coming into the batsman, Wade works it towards point and looks for a run but there is no run. Fielder has a shy at stumps there but Wade was well in. |
| 32.6 : S Broad to Wade, Good length ball outside off, Wade works it on the off side. Yet to open his account after 11 balls. |
| Ben Stokes into the attack now as England have the momentum. |
| 33.1 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Beaten! |
| 33.2 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Full around off , Smith comes down the track and defends it towards mid off. |
| 33.3 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Length ball on off, Smith defends it from within the crease. |
| 33.4 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Again length ball on off, defended towards the off side by Smith. |
| 33.5 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Well left this one by Smith. Pitched on a length outside off, Smith lets it through. |
| 33.6 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Again outside off, Smith leaves it alone. Stokes starts off with a maiden. |
| 34.1 : S Broad to Wade, Good length ball on middle, Wade pushes this to mid-wicket for nothing. |
| 34.2 : S Broad to Wade, This is on fifth stump outside off, Wade lefts it alone. |
| 34.3 : S Broad to Wade, Fuller on from Broad this time, Wade looks to power this through point but finds the fielder. The ball was in the air but pretty short. |
| 34.4 : S Broad to Wade, Another fuller one on middle, Wade leans forward to block it. |
| 34.5 : S Broad to Wade, Good length outside off, Wade lets this alone. |
| 34.6 : S Broad to Wade, Fuller from Broad to Wade as he leans into this cover drive and times it superbly but can't go pass the diving fielder at covers. Very good stop that. |
| 35.1 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Length ball on middle, Smith shuffles across and tucks it towards deep square leg for one. |
| 35.2 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Fuller this time just outside off, Wade lets it through to JB. |
| 35.3 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Short and Wide to Wade this time, he moves away from it and leaves it alone. |
| 35.4 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Full ball on the off side, played towards covers. |
| 35.5 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Ouch! That must have hurt quite badly. It pitches outside leg and Wade looks to flick towards fine leg but misses to get hit on the glove. |
| Wade has been adjudged LBW! He has taken the review though. Seems to be pitched outside leg. And Hawk Eye confirms... |
| 35.6 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Wade survives! Stokes steams in and pitches this full on leg, Wade looks to flick it but misses again to get hit on the pads. The England team put in a loud appeal and the umpire raises his finger. Wade has a quick look at Smith as he thinks it was pitching outside leg and Smith agrees. They go for the review, replays roll in and show that the ball was pitching outside leg. Two reviews taken by Australia and both retained although one resulted in the dismissal of Bancro |
| 36.1 : S Broad to Smith, A length ball outside off, Smith gets across and tucks it towards square leg. |
| 36.2 : S Broad to Smith, A bouncer down the leg side, Steve ducks awkwardly. |
| 36.3 : S Broad to Smith, FOUR! A bit too straight from Broad, the length being a bit too full as well, Smith gets across and tickles it to the fine leg fence. The deficit is now 178. |
| 36.4 : S Broad to Smith, Outside off, another exaggerated leave from SS. |
| 36.5 : S Broad to Smith, Outside off, left alone again. |
| 36.6 : S Broad to Smith, A hat-trick of leaves to end the over. |
| Some sawdust is being applied on the landing area of the bowler. Oopss... a spectator is unable to fold his umbrella and it breaks! Just a sign of the heavy wind. Might be a good one, because it means that the clouds could be blown away. |
| 37.1 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Good delivery! Good length on off, goes a bit away from the batsman. Wade knows his off pole and leaves it alone. Also, drizzle getting heavier. |
| 0.0 : Well, just one ball bowled in the over and umpire Aleem Dar has called for the covers. The persistent drizzle has just gotten to heavy to continue playing. LUNCH WILL BE TAKEN AS WELL, with just 4 minutes to go for the break. |
| Right. Pretty punctual rain clouds. It was forecast that it would begin to rain around 1 pm and boy, has it been proved right. The forecast is very iffy for the rest of the afternoon but the ground has excellent drainage. So, if the rain does stop, it should not take too long to resume. |
| Who goes happier into Lunch then? Any doubts? Well, England have taken 3 already and Wade is just surviving. However, Smith is again into the act. He is batting on 13 and hasn't been troubled much. But all the others were troubled by the English bowlers. Archer and Broad started the proceedings exactly the way they finished yesterday. But Bancroft and Khawaja did well to see off the initial hour. However, Archer eventually got the better off Bancroft to claim his maiden Test wicket. That brought |
| Rain has arrived and the forecast says that there will be heavy rains. England would want to come into the middle as soon as possible and make further inroads in the Australian batting line-up. Interesting to see if we can start on time post Lunch. Join us back for the second session at 1340 Local (Hopefully). |
| ... DAY 3, SESSION 2 ... |
| Welcome back. Er... go back. Nothing much to report. The rain is steady and we are definitely not going to resume on time. The wait begins. |
| Australia may not might mind it too much. They were certainly up against it and would love if a session or two gets washed out. That means facing England bowlers for a lesser amount of time. Not much batting left any which ways... |
| Update 1420 Local (1320 GMT) - And it continues. Nothing positive to update as rain continues to pour down in London. |
| 1540 Local (1440 GMT) - Early Tea has been taken on the third day as the rain continues to pour down. No positive news to look forward to as well, as it is gloomy all around England and the forecast says that there are no signs of the showers going away anytime soon. However, Australia will be happy with this as another session of play is washed out and just seven sessions remain. Meanwhile, the task for England gets tougher with the match heading towards a draw when they clearly had the upper h |
| STUMPS! Yawn! It has been a tiring time since Lunch as both the sessions after that have been washed out. As it stands, it seems like only one result is on the cards (draw). Unless a dramatic collapse from either side happens, the match is just going to be stretched out. Six sessions of play remain and with two-and-a-half innings to go, a result doesn't seem possible from this match. |
| Today's play consisted of just one session but it was an eventful one as after a good start from Khawaja and Bancroft, Australia found themselves at 71/4. Smith and Wade held out until Lunch with Wade yet to get off the mark. The English bowled beautifully as they didn't let any of the batters settle and were duly rewarded. Archer got his maiden Test wicket as he dismissed Bancroft and brought an end to the 49-run second-wicket stand. Broad and Woakes took one wicket each as well. |
| What's in store for day 4 then? If we get a full day's play, we might stand a chance of having a result or else we are in for a draw. Let's hope for the former and if that happens, England would have to bundle Australia quickly and score some quick runs to give themselves a good enough total to defend. And obviously, bundle Australia out, again. As far as the Aussies are concerned, they would want to bat out a couple of sessions tomorrow to keep an upper hand in the series. Join us for the 4th d |
| ... Day 4, Session 1 ... |
| Welcome to Day 4 of the 2nd Ashes Test. The match hinges in the balance right now as 5 sessions out of 9 have been washed out. However, in those 4 sessions that happened, 14 wickets have been taken so we are expecting another day which will be dominated by the ball. |
| As it stands, Australia trail England by 178 runs and they have lost 4 wickets as well. The good news for them will be that Steve Smith is still at the crease and if he plays another innings like he did at Edgbaston, Australia can again get the advantage. Coming onto the hosts, they will be unhappy with the rain gods interrupting their momentum on Friday as they were ripping through the top order of Australia. Everyone in Australia except for Smith, were struggling to deal with the swinging cond |
| A crucial day awaits us as the Three Lions will be going all out attacking in order to level the series while the Men Down Under will try everything possible (also praying to the rain gods) to ensure that doesn't happen. |
| Out come Steve Smith along with Matthew Wade. Ben Stokes will continue from where he left off yesterday to start the day. Matthew Wade on strike and here we go... |
| 37.2 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Length ball above the hips, Wade looks to flick and the ball hits Wade's gloves. The ball rolls towards square leg and the batters cross for a single. Wade is off the mark after 23 balls. Wade wrings his hand in pain. |
| 37.3 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Good bounce on this ball. It pitches on a length outside off, Smith awkwardly defends it out. It hits the handle of Smith's bat. |
| 37.4 : Ben Stokes to Smith, This time on middle, Smith flicks it towards fine leg and rotates the strike. |
| 37.5 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Good length ball on off, Wade defends it out. |
| 37.6 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Again on middle and off, Wade blocks it out towards off. 2 runs off the over. |
| Stuart Broad from the other end for England. |
| 38.1 : S Broad to Smith, Good length ball outside off, Smith looked to play at it but kept the bat just away. Good delivery from Broad. |
| 38.2 : S Broad to Smith, Another one on the same line, Smith walks across and blocks it off his back foot. |
| 38.3 : S Broad to Smith, This is on a shortish length on off, Smith blocks again. |
| 38.4 : S Broad to Smith, Goes for the bouncer but not the right line, too wide down the leg side, Smith ducks under it. |
| S Broad to Smith, Fifth stump line on a good length, Smith leaves this alone. |
| 38.5 : S Broad to Smith, FOUR! Top shot! Shortish length outside off, Smith punches this off his back foot through covers to hit first boundary of the over. |
| 38.6 : S Broad to Smith, This one is closer to off pole on a good length, Smith blocks it well and does his antics. |
| 39.1 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Outside off on a good length. Wade leaves it alone. |
| 39.2 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Fuller this time just outside off, Archer makes a good stop at mid off. |
| 39.3 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Again full outside off, this time Wade lets it be. |
| 39.4 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Good length ball just outside off, Matthew shoulders arms to this one. |
| 39.5 : Ben Stokes to Wade, Full on middle and leg, Wade flicks it towards fine leg and takes a single. |
| 39.6 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Fractionally short on middle and leg, Smith gets on one foot and pulls it towards deep square leg. He runs quickly for the first and thinks about going for the second, but decides against it. Tidy over from Stokes, just 2 off it. Australia are 89/4. |
| 40.1 : S Broad to Smith, FOUR! Superb timing from Smith. Good length ball outside off, Smith punches this through point to get another boundary. No chance for the fielder there. |
| 40.2 : S Broad to Smith, Slightly short this time outside off, Smith blocks this towards leg side off his back foot. |
| 40.3 : S Broad to Smith, Beaten! Superb comeback! This is again on a shortish length, shapes away from the batter, Smith fends to get beaten. |
| 40.4 : S Broad to Smith, Good length ball outside off, Smith pushes it towards mid-wicket to change ends. |
| 40.5 : S Broad to Wade, FOUR! Fuller one outside off to the left-hander, Wade punches it through mid off superbly. Archer dives to his left to stop but fails to do so. Wade reaches 1000-run landmark with that boundary. |
| 40.6 : S Broad to Wade, Fullish on off, Wade flicks it towards short mid-wicket. End of a good over for Australia. 9 off it. |
| Just 1 over for Stokes today as Jofra Archer is into the attack. |
| 41.1 : J Archer to Smith, Good length ball on off, Smith shuffles across and tucks it towards fine leg. Crosses ends. |
| 41.2 : J Archer to Wade, Bouncer! Well directed by Archer, on off pole line. Wade ducks under it. |
| 41.3 : J Archer to Wade, Good length and on off, pushed towards mid off. |
| 41.4 : J Archer to Wade, On middle and leg, Wade this time shuffles across and plays it towards square leg. |
| 41.5 : J Archer to Wade, This time just outside off, blocks it out. |
| 41.6 : J Archer to Wade, Ouch! This bounces rapidly towards Wade, he is hit on the gloves. The ball rolls towards the leg side. It seems that the ball hit Wade on the fingers, he takes off his gloves and stretches them, he seems alright as he puts his gloves back on quickly. |
| 42.1 : S Broad to Smith, Good length outside off, Smith has no business with it. After pitching shaped further away. |
| 42.2 : S Broad to Smith, This one is again on a good length, closer to Smith who tucks this towards square leg to take a single. 100 up fur Australia with that run. |
| 42.3 : S Broad to Wade, Full ball on middle to Wade, he flicks it straight to mid-wicket. |
| 42.4 : S Broad to Wade, Good length ball, on the fourth stump, came slightly in to the batsman who blocked it well of his back foot. |
| 42.5 : S Broad to Wade, Good ball! Fullish one on middle, Wade lunges to block it. |
| 42.6 : S Broad to Wade, Good length ball outside off, Wade is aware of his stumps as he lets this pass to the keeper. Another one shaped into the left-hander. Tight over from Broad. |
| 43.1 : J Archer to Smith, Archer steams in, bowls this one just outside off on a good length. Smith lets it be. |
| 43.2 : J Archer to Smith, Good bumper. Hits the deck hard on the middle pole line, Smith ducks under it as the ball is collected by Bairstow. |
| 43.3 : J Archer to Smith, Fuller on off, pushed towards cover. The fielder there stops it. |
| 43.4 : J Archer to Smith, Just outside off, Smith shoulders arms to it. |
| 43.5 : J Archer to Smith, Full on middle and off, Steve flicks it towards mid-wicket and takes a single. |
| Joe Root has decided to get a bat-pad in now. It is such an underrated position in Test cricket. |
| 43.6 : J Archer to Wade, Good bouncer by Archer, Wade tries to evade it but fails to get out off the way and the ball hits his right bicep. The ball rolls towards fine leg and the batters cross for a leg bye. |
| 44.1 : S Broad to Wade, Good length ball outside off, Wade is not fending at that. |
| 44.2 : S Broad to Wade, OUT! Caught! Very good low catch at gully from Rory Burns. Broad goes slightly fuller outside off, the length is perfect for the drive and Wade goes for that. The shot produces an outside edge and Burns grabs that inches above the turf. One hand came off the bat when Wade went for the drive. Wade's struggle is over. |
| Tim Paine, the skipper walks out to the middle to replace Matthew Wade. Australia in deep trouble now as they are 5 down and they still trail by 156. |
| 44.3 : S Broad to Paine, Shortish one to the skipper to start with. Rises a bit after coming into the batsman, Paine blocks it well. |
| 44.4 : S Broad to Paine, Looked for another good length ball outside off, dishes a full toss, Paine mistimes it towards mid on. |
| 44.5 : S Broad to Paine, Fourth stump line on a good length, Paine lets it be. |
| 44.6 : S Broad to Paine, Shortish one outside off, Paine shoulders arms again. Superb over from Broad. Can be the opening England were after. |
| 45.1 : J Archer to Smith, Good length ball just outside off, Smith looks to defend but misses to get hit on the thigh pad. |
| 45.2 : J Archer to Smith, Beaten! Nerves finally getting to Smith maybe. Archer bowls this one wide and short outside off and Smith lashes at it. However, the ball swung away a lot and just beats the blade of Smith. |
| 45.3 : J Archer to Smith, Outside off, Steve shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 45.4 : J Archer to Smith, Back of a length this time, Smith defends it towards the point region. |
| 45.5 : J Archer to Smith, That one was awkward. Short of a length on off, Smith lines up for the pull but backs out at the last moment to defend it. The ball kept a bit low and Smith did well to defend it out. |
| 45.6 : J Archer to Smith, Outside off, Smith lets it be. Maiden-wicket followed up by a maiden. England piling up the pressure here. |
| 46.1 : S Broad to Paine, Full and outside off, Paine pushes this towards cover. |
| 46.2 : S Broad to Paine, Outside off, the skipper taps it towards cover, looks for a single, then looks at his ex-skipper and is sent back. |
| 46.3 : S Broad to Paine, On a length outside off, some extra bounce, Tim blocks it out watchfully. |
| 46.4 : S Broad to Paine, Fuller in length, well blocked out. |
| 46.5 : S Broad to Paine, Outside off, Tim looks to drive but the ball swings back in and goes off the inner half towards Jofra Archer at mid on. |
| By the way, it has gone pretty overcast right now and the floodlights are in effect already. |
| 46.6 : S Broad to Paine, Full and around off, this is driven compactly towards mid on. Third maiden on the trot. |
| 47.1 : J Archer to Smith, Good length ball on off, Smith tucks it towards mid-wicket and takes a single. |
| 47.2 : J Archer to Paine, Length ball just outside off, Paine guides this one to the point fielder. |
| 47.3 : J Archer to Paine, Fuller this time on off, Paine plays this back to Archer. |
| 47.4 : J Archer to Tim Paine, Oohh! Edged but falls safely. Short of a length on middle, Paine looks to pull this one but gets an inside edge onto it. The ball then hits the pads and bounces but falls safely. Close call with short leg in place. |
| 47.5 : J Archer to Paine, FOUR! Educated edge this one by the skipper. Good length ball outside off, Paine looks to guide it towards third man but gets a bit of an outside edge. The ball races to the third man fence. The skipper is off the mark but with a bit of luck. |
| 47.6 : J Archer to Paine, Tim shows the full face of the bat and defends this ball off the back foot. |
| 48.1 : S Broad to Smith, Good length outside off, on fifth stump line, Smith leaves this one. |
| 48.2 : S Broad to Smith, Good delivery but equally well played. That came in from a good length ball. Smith lunged to push it towards fine leg to change ends. |
| 48.3 : S Broad to Paine, Shortish ball outside off, closer to Paine who blocks it off his back foot. |
| 48.4 : S Broad to Paine, Fuller one this time, closer to the batsman, Paine leaned forward to drive past the covers, got the gap but no timing there, gets a couple. |
| 48.5 : S Broad to Paine, Fifth stumper from Broad, Paine lets it go to the keeper. |
| 48.6 : S Broad to Paine, Another one outside off on a good length, Paine lets it be. |
| Chris Woakes to bowl for the first time today. His figures yesterday - 9-3-27-1 |
| 49.1 : C Woakes to Smith, Starts off with a length ball just outside off, Smith flicks it towards mid-wicket. |
| 49.2 : C Woakes to Smith, This time on middle, Smith pushes it back to Woakes off the back foot. |
| 49.3 : C Woakes to Smith, Length ball on off, Smith shuffles across and again plays it towards the mid-wicket fielder. |
| 49.4 : C Woakes to Smith, Gets on the back foot and flicks this towards fine leg to take a single. |
| 49.5 : C Woakes to Paine, Again similar line, on middle and leg, Paine flicks it to the leg side and crosses ends. |
| 49.6 : C Woakes to Smith, Fullish outside off. A rare edge by Smith but safe as it goes between gully and slip towards the third man region. Denly runs for it from the slip cordon and collects as the batters take two. |
| Change of ends for Jofra Archer. 17-7-25-1 so far. Giving Broad a well-deserved rest. |
| 50.1 : J Archer to Paine, Ha ha ha! This is comical. How good and honest is this debutant bloke? Good length ball on off and middle, comes in to the batsman. The push towards the leg side was missed and Paine was hit high on the pads. There's an appeal from the slip cordon but Archer is not even interested! Eventually, he appeals, on seeing his mates. Root is serious though and wants to review but is informed that it is too high. |
| 50.2 : J Archer to Paine, FOUR BYES! Another good length ball on leg stump, shapes away further on the leg side to go to the fence by evading the doing keeper. |
| 50.3 : J Archer to Paine, Good length ball this time, Paine blocks it. |
| 50.4 : J Archer to Tim Paine, Shortish length to Paine, who looks to pull and does it awkwardly to get a run. |
| 50.5 : J Archer to Smith, Bumper from Archer but too high, Smith not attempting anything on that one. |
| 50.6 : J Archer to Smith, Another good length ball outside off, Smith pushes it to mid-wicket to take a run. |
| DRINKS! |
| 51.1 : C Woakes to Smith, Short of a length ball outside off, Smith plays it back to Woakes. |
| 51.2 : C Woakes to Smith, Beaten! Good ball by Woakes here, pitches it on the fourth stump line and gets it to nip away from Smith. He goes for the block but misses. The ball keeps low and goes to JB on two bounces. |
| 51.3 : C Woakes to Smith, On middle and leg, Smith flicks it towards fine leg and takes a single. |
| 51.4 : C Woakes to Paine, Outside off, Paine chooses to leave this one. |
| 51.5 : Woakes to Paine, Loud appeal by the the English for an LBW but denied by the umpire. They decide not to take the review. Looks to be going above the stumps. Good length ball just outside off, the ball nips back in after pitching. It hits Tim near the knee-roll on the middle pole line. The England players appeal loudly but nothing from the umpire. Replays later roll in and the Hawk Eye confirms that the ball was going over the middle pole. Good decision here. |
| 51.6 : C Woakes to Paine, Again gets beaten as Paine goes for the push outside off. End of a good over. |
| 52.1 : J Archer to S Smith, Good length ball outside off, Smith looks to drive but gets an outside edge. This was a slower one and hence didn't carry to the second slip fielder. That was a knuckle ball from Archer. |
| 52.2 : J Archer to Smith, Shortish one to follow the good length ball, Smith blocks it well. |
| 52.3 : J Archer to Smith, Looking for the Yorker, Archer dishes a full toss going down leg side, Smith misses his flick on that one. |
| 52.4 : J Archer to Smith, Good length ball outside off, Smith lets it be. |
| 52.5 : J Archer to Smith, This time he attempts a bumper but it is too high. Smith ducks it easily. |
| 52.6 : J Archer to Smith, Beaten! This doesn't happen often but Smith has been troubled twice in this over. Good length ball outside off, Smith plays at a wrong line to get beaten. |
| 53.1 : C Woakes to Paine, Length ball on middle and off, Paine pulls it towards leg for a single. |
| 53.2 : C Woakes to Smith, On the hips of Smith, he pushes it towards square leg with soft hands and takes a single. |
| 53.3 : C Woakes to Paine, Fuller outside off, Paine blocks it out towards covers. |
| 53.4 : C Woakes to Paine, This time full on the off pole, Paine does well to block this towards the off side. |
| 53.5 : C Woakes to Paine, Ohh! Close one this. Woakes bowls this one on a length on middle. Paine looks to push it towards covers but gets an inside edge on it as the ball rolls towards fine leg. Leach slides in near the fence and keeps the ball in play as the batters take two. |
| 53.6 : C Woakes to Paine, Similar to the last ball, again Tim looks to push this off the back foot towards the off side. He again gets an inside edge but this time it results in just a single. Luck is favoring Australia here in every way possible. |
| 54.1 : J Archer to Paine, Full and outside off, left alone. |
| 54.2 : J Archer to Paine, A short ball outside off, the skipper looks to pull but misses. Was there a noise? Naah... |
| 54.3 : J Archer to Tim Paine, EDGED, SHORT! On a length outside off, Tim looks to defend but the ball moves away and takes the outside edge. However, because he played that with soft hands, it does not carry to Jason Roy at second slip. |
| 54.4 : J Archer to Paine, Outside off, quietly left alone this time. |
| Archer comes running in but the ball slips out of his hand. Paine threatens to hit that but does not. |
| 54.5 : J Archer to Paine, Hit this one! What a riposte from Archer. A sharp bouncer outside off, TP sways away from the line. |
| 54.6 : J Archer to Paine, Another snorter from Archer, banging it on a length outside off and then generating steep bounce. Paine looks to push at that, almost fending it away, with one hand off the bat but the ball flies off the outside edge. However, because the bottom hand came off the bat, the ball dies down even before it goes to gully. It is in the gap and the batsmen take a single, |
| Signs that we might see spin. Somewhere in the field, Jack Leach is warming up. |
| 55.1 : C Woakes to Paine, Good length outside off from Woakes, leaves it silently. |
| 55.2 : C Woakes to Tim Paine, Fuller ball this time, Paine blocks it by staying inside the crease. |
| 55.3 : C Woakes to Paine, FOUR! SMASHED! Wide ball outside off and a shortish one to add. Paine opens his arms and pummels it through point and cover. Superb shot. |
| 55.4 : C Woakes to Tim Paine, Full ball outside off, Paine pushes it towards off side and looked for a quick single. Stokes has a shy at the non striker's end, no one to backup as the ball races towards the fence. But hello! A diving stop at mid-wicket from Buttler to prevent a run. |
| 55.5 : C Woakes to Smith, Good length on middle and off, Smith pushes it towards mid-wicket. |
| 55.6 : C Woakes to Smith, Wide outside off to finish the over. Smith leaves it alone. |
| 56.1 : J Archer to Paine, Length ball on off pole, Paine plays it back to the bowler. |
| 56.2 : J Archer to Paine, This one is again on middle pole, the ball pitches and nips back in as Smith gets hit on the thigh pad. |
| 56.3 : J Archer to Paine, What happened there! What a ball by Archer! A seam-up delivery on a length outside off, the ball pitches and nips back in a bit, but just as it crosses Smith, the ball wildly moves to the left of Bairstow. He dives and gets a hand to it as the ball rolls towards fine leg and the batters take a bye off it. The ball doing crazy things here. |
| 56.4 : J Archer to Smith, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 56.5 : J Archer to Smith, Outside off again, Smith lets it go again. |
| 56.6 : J Archer to Smith, Length ball again by the bowler. Smith defends it off the back foot. |
| Sun is shining at Lord's at the moment. English weather that, for everyone. It was overcast just a while ago. |
| Bowling change! Spin for the first time in this Innings. |
| 57.1 : J Leach to Paine, Good length ball on off and middle from Leach, Paine blocks it by lunging. |
| 57.2 : J Leach to Paine, Similar line from Leach, Smith pushes this towards point. |
| 57.3 : J Leach to Paine, Another good length ball but on middle and leg, Paine blocks it again. |
| 57.4 : J Leach to Paine, Slightly fuller this time on off, Paine comes forward and blocks well. |
| 57.5 : J Leach to Paine, Another fullish one outside off, Paine pushes it straight to fielder at point. |
| 57.6 : J Leach to Paine, Slightly short one from Leach, Paine looks to slash this but this goes straight to the fielder, who fumbles but no run taken. |
| Ben Stokes is back into the attack. |
| 58.1 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Length outside off, Smith leaves it alone. |
| 58.2 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Again length but this time straighter, Smith tucks it towards mid-wicket. |
| 58.3 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Similar line and length, Smith shuffles and tucks it towards square leg for a couple. Making good use of the crease here. |
| 58.4 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Bouncer! Good one and on middle, Smith does well to duck under it. |
| 58.5 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Ouch! That must have hurt Smith! Stokes has a stare at him. Some fire on the pitch here. Stokes bowls this on a length and just outside off, the ball rises off the deck. It hits Smith between his thumb and forefinger, on his right hand. He has a look at the pitch and then at Stokes, who gives a stare back to him too. Fiery! |
| 58.6 : Ben Stokes to Smith, This time flicks this one towards fine leg and takes a single. 138/5 Australia with Smith and Paine hanging in. |
| 59.1 : J Leach to Smith, Full on off, Smith comes forward to push it back to the bowler. |
| 59.2 : J Leach to Smith, Slightly fuller on middle and leg, Smith works it towards leg side. |
| 59.3 : J Leach to Smith, Another fullish ball outside off, Smith looks to drive this through point, but straight to Broad but he was lazy to get down. The ball rolls towards third man and they take three. |
| 59.4 : J Leach to Tim Paine, Oohhh... that was gone. But for the inside edge. Full and outside off, Paine looks to defend but misses and gets hit on the pads. Leach puts in an appeal but no one does. The umpire shakes his head. |
| 59.5 : J Leach to Paine, Fuller one again, Paine blocks this off the inside half of the bat. |
| 59.6 : J Leach to Paine, Fuller one outside off again, Paine pushes it straight to cover. |
| 60.1 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Good length on middle and leg, Smith tucks it towards mid-wicket with soft hands. Runs the first-one quickly and completes the second easily. Smith moves to 43 with this. |
| 60.2 : Ben Stokes to Smith, FOUR! Beautiful cover drive by Smith! Full and outside off, perfect for the cover drive and Smith doesn't miss out. Leans into it and smashes it to the fence. |
| 60.3 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Smith chooses to leave the ball outside his off stump. |
| 60.4 : Ben Stokes to Smith, On middle and leg, Smith flicks this one towards the leg side and takes one. Inching closer to his half-ton. |
| 60.5 : Ben Stokes to Paine, Length ball on the off pole, it nips back in and hits Paine on the thigh pad. The English players appeal for an LBW but umpire denies it. They surprisingly mull over taking a review as the ball seems to be going well over the wickets. In the end, they decide against taking it. |
| 60.6 : Ben Stokes to Paine, The skipper shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 61.1 : J Leach to Smith, Fuller one outside off, Smith comes forward to push towards off side. |
| 61.2 : J Leach to Smith, FOUR! HEAVED! 25th half-century and 7th in the Ashes for Smith. Good length ball on middle and off, Smith charges down the track to go for the biggie. Doesn't time it too well but good enough for a boundary. Races to the mid-wicket fence. 150 comes up as well for Australia. Smith is in the mood again. He continues to be the thorn for England. |
| 61.3 : J Leach to Smith, Full and around off, driven back to the bowler. |
| 61.4 : J Leach to Smith, Outside off, pushed towards Leach again. |
| 61.5 : J Leach to Smith, Full and just outside off, blocked towards Leach. |
| 61.6 : J Leach to Smith, Landed outside off, spinning away, Steve gets a big stride forward and watches it go past. |
| 62.1 : Ben Stokes to Paine, Down the leg side, Paine goes for the pull but doesn't time it well. It hits the top half of his bat and uppishly goes towards fine leg. Bairstow gives it a chase, collects it and the batters exchenge ends. |
| 62.2 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Length ball on leg again, Smith pulls this well towards backward square leg and gives the strike to his skipper. |
| 62.3 : Ben Stokes to Paine, Paine shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 62.4 : Ben Stokes to Paine, Beaten! Now, where did this hit Paine, thigh pad, bat or glove? We think it's thigh pad. The ball pitches on a good length, just outside off pole and moves away after pitching. The ball kisses the thigh pad and goes on the bounce to first slip. Oohhs and Aahs by the crowd as well as the players. |
| 62.5 : Ben Stokes to Paine, Paine has played it to the point region. |
| 62.6 : Ben Stokes to Paine, Beautifully driven to the cover fielder off this full ball outside off by Paine. |
| 63.1 : J Leach to Smith, Full on middle, Smith flicks it straight to mid-wicket. |
| 63.2 : J Leach to Smith, Good length ball on off, Smith blocks it well. |
| 63.3 : J Leach to Smith, Fuller one this time, Smith is right in the line to block. |
| 63.4 : J Leach to Smith, Fullish one this time, Smith is in total control as he blocks it well again. |
| 63.5 : J Leach to Smith, Shortish one this time, outside off, Smith blocks it off his back foot. |
| 63.6 : J Leach to Smith, Good length ball outside off, Smith defends the over out. |
| 64.1 : Ben Stokes to Paine, Bouncer but too high for Paine. He tries to hook but misses and the ball carries to JB. First warning for the bouncer given to Stokes. |
| 64.2 : Ben Stokes to Paine, Short of a length on the body, Paine awkwardly pulls this one towards square leg for a single. |
| 64.3 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Fuller this time, Smith flicks it towards the leg side. |
| 64.4 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Again on the body, Smith works it towards square leg. |
| 64.5 : Ben Stokes to Smith, Bouncer! Smith ducks this time as he doesn't want to take any risks just before Lunch. 2nd one for the over called by the umpire. |
| 64.6 : Ben Stokes to S Smith, Outside edge off the last ball but doesn't carry to the fielder at gully. Smith survives and so do Australia. LUNCH! |
| Smith is intact again! Tremendous session for Australia. Just one wicket lost and they have added 75 runs at a decent click. Wade was the only victim the English could claim. It doesn't look like Smith is going to get out. There were a couple of outside edges but Smith is in that kind of a patch where these won't carry to the fielder. Paine arrived with his share of luck as he missed and edged a couple of balls but has survived. The duo has added 53 runs so far. |
| England have not bowled badly at all but just that they couldn't go past Smith. Archer, Broad, Woakes and Stokes bowled brilliantly but without much luck. Broad was the lone wicket-taker for England in this session when he got the outside edge of Wade to be pouched superbly by Rory Burns at gully. However, success has eluded them. |
| Now, when the English side return post Lunch, they would be hoping for heaps of wickets to stand any chance of leveling the series. As far as Australia are concerned, they need one more good session to ensure that the series stays 1-0 going into Leeds. Smith remains the key, actually for England as well. See you on the other side then. |
| ... Day 4, Session 2 ... |
| Welcome back to the second session on Day 4 of the second Ashes Test. Stuart Broad will start the proceedings after the Lunch break. Australian skipper Time Paine to face the first ball. Here we go ... |
| 65.1 : S Broad to Paine, First ball, full toss outside off, Paine fails to make full use of it and pushes it straight to Stokes at cover. |
| 65.2 : S Broad to Paine, Beaten! Good length ball on the fourth stump line, Broad moves his fingers on this one. It pitches and moves away as it beats the outside edge of Paine's bat. |
| 65.3 : S Broad to Paine, Fuller this time, Paine pushes to mid-wicket and gives Smith the strike. |
| 65.4 : S Broad to Smith, Outside off, Smith leaves it alone. |
| 65.5 : S Broad to Smith, FOUR! Shot of the day! Beautiful straight drive by Smith to this full pitched ball just outside off. It goes rapidly through mid off and to the fence. The deficit is below 100 now for the Aussies. |
| 65.6 : S Broad to Smith, Pushed to mid-wicket by Smith. Australia start the session well, 5 off the first over after Lunch. |
| Archer from the other end post Lunch. |
| 66.1 : J Archer to Paine, Good length ball on off, coming into Paine, blocks it towards mid on. Not those convincing blocks though. |
| 66.2 : J Archer to Paine, Shortish one on middle, Paine pushes it towards deep square leg to take a run. |
| 66.3 : J Archer to Smith, Full ball outside off, Smith pushes it towards point and says a loud no. |
| 66.4 : J Archer to Smith, Shortish one outside off, Smith comes across to work it towards mid-wicket to take a single. |
| 66.5 : J Archer to Paine, Bumper this time, a bit too high as Paine ducks under it easily. |
| 66.6 : J Archer to Paine, OUT! Caught! Good captaincy from Root as he persisted with that short leg fielder ever after the 50-run stand. This came in from a slightly shortish length on off, Paine looked to work it towards mid-wicket but gets an inside edge, the ball goes to hit his thigh pad and lob in the air to Buttler who pouches that comfortably at short leg. Early strike for England after Lunch. Archer has his second. |
| Pat Cummins replaces his skipper out in the middle. He will need to partner Smith well. |
| 67.1 : S Broad to Smith, Good length just outside off, Smith blocks it towards point. |
| 67.2 : S Broad to Smith, Broad bowls this one full and on off, it pitches and stays a bit low. Smith does well to block it towards the off side. |
| 67.3 : S Broad to Smith, Full again outside off, Smith plays this towards covers with just a hint of the outside half of his bat. The ball goes to deep cover where the fielders gobble it up and the batters take two. |
| 67.4 : S Broad to Smith, FOUR! Beautiful flick off the pads! One moment we think he's gonna get out plumb in front of the wickets but he just flicks it gracefully for a boundary. Full and on middle, Smith shuffles across and nonchalantly plays it towards the mid-wicket fence. |
| 67.5 : S Broad to Smith, Smith has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 67.6 : S Broad to Smith, Outside off, Smith leaves it alone. |
| 68.1 : J Archer to Cummins, Good length ball outside off, Cummins looked to push it towards point with a dab. Pushed it nicely towards third man. Takes three to get off the mark on first ball. |
| 68.2 : J Archer to Smith, Good idea from Archer but the line was wrong. Looked for a slower yorker to pin Smith in front of the stumps, misses the line on that one. Remember how Bumrah had got the wicket of Shaun Marsh during Border-Gavaskar Trophy during India's last tour to Australia. |
| 68.3 : J Archer to Smith, Slightly fuller outside off, Smith pushes it towards cover to take a run. |
| 68.4 : J Archer to Cummins, FOUR! That was intentional but risky. Fourth stump line outside off, Cummins goes with the shot and manages to thread the slip and gully cordon to get a boundary. |
| 68.5 : J Archer to Cummins, Bumper from Archer but too high for Cummisn to do anything there. |
| 68.6 : J Archer to Cummins, FOUR! What was that? Sharp incoming delivery from outside off, Cummins looks to block it off his back foot but the ball shoots up off the surface to get past the bat. Bairstow fails to collect that even with a leap and it races to the fine leg fence. |
| Jack Leach is back on. 4-2-7-0 so far. |
| 69.1 : J Leach to Smith, Full and around middle, Smith looks to flick but the ball goes off the inside edge, onto the pads and lobs towards short leg. But where is short leg? Has Root missed a trick here? Cummins wnts a single but Steve sends him back. |
| 69.2 : J Leach to Smith, Comes forward again and whips it towards short mid-wicket. |
| 69.3 : J Leach to Smith, Tossed up on middle, Smith pushes it to mid on and takes a single. |
| 69.4 : J Leach to Cummins, Ohh! The English team appeal for an LBW but denied by the umpire. Tossed up on middle, the ball goes down with the angle. Cummins looks to flick but misses to get hit on the front pad. The England team appeals in unison but the umpire denies it. The replays roll in and it seems the ball is going down the leg side. Good that the hosts didn't take the review. |
| 69.5 : J Leach to Cummins, Full on off, pushed back to Leach. |
| 69.6 : J Leach to Cummins, This time tossed up outside off, pushed to covers. |
| 70.1 : J Archer to Smith, Shortish length outside off, Smith walks across and blunts this on the off side. |
| 70.2 : J Archer to S Smith, FOUR! Thumped through the covers. Fuller on but wide outside off. Smith has a chance to open the arms. He slams that one through covers and no one moves. Races to the fence. |
| 70.3 : J Archer to Smith, WIDE! Bumper this time, called wide as Smith ducks. |
| The physio is in the middle. And Smith is wincing. The ball has hit him right on the left elbow. |
| J Archer to Smith, Slightly shortish but coming into the batsman, Smith blocks it bit awkwardly. |
| 70.4 : J Archer to Smith, Outside off on fifth stump, Smith lets it alone. |
| 70.5 : J Archer to Smith, Another bumper but again too high. Bairstow leaps to take it into the gloves. |
| 70.6 : J Archer to Smith, OUCH! On the elbow. Wow. Archer has hit Smith on the body and gets the crowd going. Finally gets the line right for the bumper. This doesn't rise much as Smith looks to duck, gets hit on the elbow. Looks in a lot of pain there. |
| The physio is in the middle. And Smith is wincing. The ball has hit him right on the left elbow. The physio presses a couple of points and the batsman yells in pain. This looks bad. This looks real bad. Looks like England have eventually found a way to get Smith out. Nasser Hussain on air says that the elbow is broken. He takes a couple of pain-killers, does Smith and is ready to guts it out. |
| 71.1 : J Leach to Cummins, Floated on middle and off, Cummins plays it back to Leach. |
| 71.2 : J Leach to Cummins, This time flatter, Cummins takes a foot forward but gets an outside edge on it. The ball goes towards covers. Falls way short of the fielder. |
| 71.3 : J Leach to Cummins, The batsman has played it to the point region. |
| 71.4 : J Leach to Cummins, Full and floated just outside off, it goes uppishly towards point off the leading edge of Leach's bat. |
| 71.5 : J Leach to Cummins, Full on the pads, Cummins pushes it towards mid on. |
| 71.6 : J Leach to Cummins, Cummins flicks this one towards the leg side. |
| 72.1 : J Archer to Smith, FOUR! Goes for the bouncer. Archer is not going to stop doing that seeing Smith's pain. Good ball, on the body as Paine looks to pull this, gets a top edge and the ball flies over the keeper for a four. Smith not looking to hang back either. |
| 72.2 : J Archer to Smith, Another bouncer! Superb bowling from Archer. This is heading towards the head of Smith, he moves across and looks to hammer over the square leg fielder. Didn't time it well, in the air but lands sage. They take one. |
| 72.3 : J Archer to Cummins, Fullish ball on off, Cummins blocks it well but Jofra has overstepped. |
| Caught behind! Is it? Archer has bowled a brute to Cummins and there is an appeal for a caught behind. But Aleem Dar has shaken his head. England, after a lot of deliberation go for the review. Here come the replays. And the ball... has hit nothing. Top decision! |
| J Archer to Cummins, Barrage of bouncer continues from Archer, this time to Archer. The ball flies off the surface as Cummins gets beaten. Bairstow leaps to pouch that one goes for an appeal. Root goes for the review at the very last moment, that looked close. However, replays shows that it was very far from the willow or gloves of Cummins. Review gone for England. |
| 72.4 : J Archer to Cummins, Good length on off, Cummins pats it towards point. |
| 72.5 : J Archer to Cummins, Outside edge now! Outside off on a good length from Archer as Cummins looks to push it towards the off side. Gets an edge and lands between slip and gully. They take a run. |
| 72.6 : J Archer to Smith, Beautiful bowling Archer! Truly rock and roll! Making life as hard as he can for Smith. Length ball and it rockets off the pitch. It rises on Smith and hits him on the glove.The ball lobs towards Jos Buttler at short leg but just too far from him. He dives but doesn't get to it. Looks like the wicket of Smith is coming soon following the injury on his elbow, however he is toughing it out right now. |
| 73.1 : J Leach to Cummins, Full and outside off, pushed towards cover. |
| 73.2 : J Leach to Cummins, Around middle and off, pushed back to the bowler. |
| 73.3 : J Leach to Cummins, Full on middle, pushed towards the bowler again, this time towards mid on. |
| 73.4 : J Leach to Cummins, Full and around middle, this time Cummins nudges it wide of Buttler at short leg for a quick single. |
| 73.5 : J Leach to Smith, Around middle, solidly defended. |
| 73.6 : J Leach to Smith, Tossed up around middle, Steve drives it straight back. Leach collects and mimes a throw but does not release it. |
| 74.1 : J Archer to Cummins, Archer bowling short ball after short ball. This time Cummins ducks and it gets through to Bairstow. |
| 74.2 : J Archer to Cummins, FOUR! Beautiful drive by Cummins. This time he bowls it full but outside off. Cummins leans into the drive and the ball races to the cover boundary. |
| 74.3 : J Archer to Cummins, Mixing it up well here Archer. This time Archer bowls it on a length, the ball pitches just outside off and nips away. Cummins tries to defend but misses as he gets squared up. |
| 74.4 : J Archer to Cummins, The batsman defends it from within the crease. |
| 74.5 : J Archer to Cummins, Again beaten, the wicket doesn't seem to be far away from Archer here. Length ball outside off, Cummins tries to put bat on ball but misses again. |
| 74.6 : J Archer to Cummins, The batsman fails to put bat on ball. |
| 75.1 : J Leach to Smith, Fuller ball on off, Smith drives it firmly towards mid off and takes for a quick single. There is a direct hit but he is home comfortably. |
| 75.2 : J Leach to Cummins, Good length ball on off and middle, Cummins blunts it comfortably. |
| 75.3 : J Leach to Cummins, This is slightly shorter on off, Cummins blocks it again. |
| 75.4 : J Leach to Cummins, Same line and length, Cummins is behind the ball to block again. |
| 75.5 : J Leach to Cummins, Another shortish length on off, blocked by Cummins on the off side. |
| 75.6 : J Leach to Cummins, Fuller this time, Cummins dabs this off his front foot. |
| 76.1 : J Archer to Smith, FOUR! Short again by Archer but pulled well by Smith, just wide of the fielder at backward square leg where Stokes was positioned. The ball was going uppishly and the England players were excited for a moment but the ball races to the fence. 200 up with that boundary. |
| 0.0 : This is beginning to be a tough battle. |
| 76.2 : J Archer to Smith, Nasty! Very Nasty this one by Archer! And Smith is down on the floor this time as the ball has hit him flush on the NECK! Archer bowls this short and just outside off, it shoots off the pitch. Smith looks to duck under it but the ball didn't bounce as much as he expected. He bends down awkwardly in an attempt to leave it but fails to do so. The ball hits him on the side of his neck. He's lying on the ground shaking his head. |
| That is nasty. Smith is lying on the ground. He has taken his helmet off. All the English players are going to check on him. The physio is coming running in. England are literally bullying Smith with this short stuff. It is a test of character. A real test. This is going to be a lengthyyy delay.... |
| STEVE SMITH IS GOING OFF THE PARK. The entire Lord's arena is standing up as one for the great batsman. Don't think he will come out to bat again in this innings. But guess he has done enough to give Australia some well-needed time in this Test. New batsman is PETER SIDDLE. England will now look to bat in this session itself. The lead is 55 for now. |
| 76.3 : J Archer to Siddle, Fuller one to the new man, this one is just outside off, Siddle pushes it towards mid off to take a run. Off the mark on ball one. |
| 76.4 : J Archer to Cummins, Shortish ball on middle to Cummins, Looks to guide towards the leg side but gets hit on the thigh pad. |
| 76.5 : J Archer to Cummins, Another shortish one on the body to Cummins, he stands tall to this one and blocks. |
| 76.6 : J Archer to Cummins, Beaten! Good ball! Shortish length on off, shapes back into the batter who plays down the wrong line to get beaten. |
| 77.1 : J Leach to Siddle, Flat on middle, Siddle blocks it out towards the off side. |
| 77.2 : J Leach to Siddle, Flat on middle, pushed back to Leach. |
| 77.3 : J Leach to Siddle, Again flat on middle, pushed to covers. |
| 77.4 : J Leach to Siddle, Floated this time, pushed back to the bowler. |
| 77.5 : J Leach to Siddle, Quick single taken by the batters. Siddle pushes it towards covers and doesn't react quickly to the call of his partner, however he does make it to the other end in time. Single taken. |
| 77.6 : J Leach to Cummins, Blocked towards the point region off the front foot by Cummins. |
| 78.1 : J Archer to Siddle, Another bumper! 95 mph this time but too short as Siddle ducks under it. |
| 78.2 : J Archer to Siddle, Beaten again! Good length ball on off, comes in with the angle. Siddle looks to have a push at it but gets beaten. |
| 78.3 : J Archer to Siddle, Another short ball. Again very high as Bairstow jumps to collect it over his head. |
| 78.4 : J Archer to Siddle, Now slower yorker from Archer. Siddle read it early to block it well. |
| 78.5 : J Archer to Siddle, Mixing it up is here Archer, slower bouncer outside off. Siddle evades it. |
| 78.6 : J Archer to Siddle, Fullish outside off, Siddle pushes it back to the bowler by presenting full face of the bat. |
| 79.1 : J Leach to Cummins, Pitched outside leg, blocked by Cummins. |
| 79.2 : J Leach to Cummins, Some turn off the pitch for Leach, the ball pitches outside leg and goes over the off pole as Cummins misses his defensive block. Bairstow isn't able to grab it on the first time but it doesn't result in any damage. |
| 79.3 : J Leach to Cummins, On the legs of Cummins, he flicks it towards fine leg for a single. |
| 79.4 : J Leach to Siddle, Siddle Defends it by getting on the front foot towards the leg side. |
| 79.5 : J Leach to Siddle, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 79.6 : J Leach to Siddle, FOUR! Much needed boundary after a long time for Australia. The ball is on the leg side, Siddle nudges it towards fine leg and the ball slowly trudges to the fine leg fence. Burns gives it a chase from square leg but fails to keep the ball in play. |
| THE SECOND NEW BALL HAS BEEN TAKEN. Not surprising at all. Archer continues his marathon spell. The deficit for Australia is 48. Critically, there are around 75 minutes in this session. England will aim to wrap this innings up quickly. |
| 80.1 : J Archer to Cummins, Full and down the leg side, left alone. |
| 80.2 : J Archer to Cummins, Another one down the leg side, Pat looks to tuck but misses. Archer appeals for a caught behind but nothing from Bairstow. |
| 80.3 : J Archer to Cummins, Around off, solidly defended. |
| 80.4 : J Archer to Cummins, A length ball down the leg side, Patrick misses his flick and is hit on the pads. |
| 80.5 : J Archer to Cummins, A bouncer, on middle, PC ducks. |
| 80.6 : J Archer to Cummins, FOUR BYES! Not anyone's mistake, to be honest. Yes, Archer slides this down the leg side but the ball pitches and scoots further away from Jonny Bairstow who cannot get to it with a dive. All the way to the fine leg fence. This stand is worth 11 now. |
| A dark patch of clouds is approaching the stadium. Hope we do not get any rain. England meanwhile, give the ball to Chris Woakes. 13-3-44-1 so far. |
| 81.1 : C Woakes to Siddle, LBW appeal! Woakes starts with a good length ball on middle, this comes in from the off stump and hit Siddle on the pads. An appeal from English players but that looked to be missing leg. Hawk Eye confirms the same. |
| 81.2 : C Woakes to Siddle, Fifth stump line outside off, Siddle leaves it alone. |
| 81.3 : C Woakes to Siddle, Shortish length on middle, Siddle pushes it towards mid-wicket. |
| 81.4 : C Woakes to Siddle, Beaten! Outside off on a good length, Siddle looks to push but is beaten. Good delivery. |
| 81.5 : C Woakes to Siddle, Shortish ball on middle, goes further down the leg side as Siddle misses his flick. |
| 81.6 : C Woakes to Siddle, Wide outside off, left alone. Woakes starts with a maiden. |
| Stuart Broad replaces Jofra Archer into the attack. 21-5-55-3 so far from him. He will be looking to clean up the Aussie tail quickly here and get a 5-fer also in the process. |
| 82.1 : S Broad to Cummins, Outside off, left alone by Cummins. |
| 82.2 : S Broad to Cummins, On the legs of Cummins, he tries to flick but misses to get hit on the thigh pad. They take a leg bye off this as the ball rolls towards backward square leg. |
| 82.3 : S Broad to Siddle, Swing and a miss! Full outside off, Siddle looks to drive it through the covers but misses as the ball whizzes past the outside edge. Good bowling by Broad. |
| 82.4 : S Broad to P Siddle, Full outside off, Siddle drives at this one too. The ball skews off the outside edge and goes between gully and the slip cordon. Denly mops it up from the deep as the batters take three. |
| 82.5 : S Broad to Cummins, Beauty! Length ball, fourth stump line, nipping away. A fast bowler's dream! The only thing missing was the outside edge as Cummins looked to defend but did so inside the line. He survives this one. |
| 82.6 : S Broad to Cummins, Defended off the back foot by the Cummins. |
| 83.1 : C Woakes to Siddle, Good length outside off, Siddle has no business with that one. |
| The weather is playing hide and seek. Bright and sunny now. |
| 83.2 : C Woakes to Siddle, Shortish ball on off, came into the right-hander quickly as his flick is missed, gets hit on the back leg. |
| 83.3 : C Woakes to Siddle, Another shortish one, looked a slower one. Siddle tucked it towards the leg side bit awkwardly. |
| Michael Atherton on air informs us that Steve Smith is currently undergoing a concussion test in the Australian dressing room. |
| 83.4 : C Woakes to Siddle, Goes for a fuller on this, Siddle leans forward to block it back. |
| 83.5 : C Woakes to Siddle, Another fuller one from Woakes, Siddle bends down a bit to block it again. |
| 83.6 : C Woakes to Siddle, Huge appeal! Fuller again from Woakes, Siddle looks to flick this with his wrists but is very slow at it. The ball thuds into the pads and England fans make a loud appeal but that looked to be missing leg. No reviews taken. Might have been an edge as well. |
| 84.1 : S Broad to Cummins, Length ball on leg pole, Cummins tries to block this one out but he gets an inside edge on it and the ball goes towards square leg. |
| 84.2 : S Broad to Cummins, Outside off, on a length, Cummins looks to play at that but misses. |
| 84.3 : S Broad to Cummins, Wide outside off stump, the batsman leaves it alone. |
| 84.4 : S Broad to Cummins, Full and around off, watchfully defended. |
| 84.5 : S Broad to Cummins, Bouncer! The batsman ducks under the bouncer at the last moment. |
| 84.6 : S Broad to Cummins, On a length outside off, Cummins looks to defend but the ball stays low and goes off the outside edge towards cover. |
| 85.1 : C Woakes to Siddle, Slightly shorter one on middle, Siddle looks to block towards the leg side but gets a small leading edge that falls close to him. |
| 85.2 : C Woakes to Siddle, OUT! Caught! Beauty from Woakes to get rid of Siddle. Shortish length on off from Woakes, Siddle looks to fend at the ball which shapes a tad bit away from him, gets an edge which is pouched by Bairstow comfortably. A dodgy knock comes to an end from Siddle. Australia still trail by 40. |
| Wow. Take a bow. Steven Peter Devereux Smith is walking out to the middle. There is a section of the crowd which is still booing him. But there is an even bigger section, including Aussie and England fans, which is standing up and applauding. Hail the great man. |
| 85.3 : C Woakes to Smith, Good length ball on off, Smith has his normal walk across to tuck it towards mid-wicket. |
| 85.4 : C Woakes to Smith, FOUR! WOW! Who said Smith was retired hurt just a while ago! Length ball on off, Smith clears his front leg and slams this towards mid-wicket. What a shot from Smith that. |
| 85.5 : C Woakes to Smith, FOUR! Wow, what a return to the crease for this man here! This is just pure class from Steve. Length ball just outside off, goes on the back foot and just creams this towards the cover fence. Consecutive boundaries by Smith. |
| 85.6 : C Woakes to Smith, Short ball just outside off, Smith lets this one go. The man is back to the crease and he is looking for the ton here. |
| 86.1 : S Broad to Cummins, Good length outside off, Cummins lets this one go to the keeper. |
| 0.0 : Unbelievable. Archer is warming up. Surely Root will not bring him back? Take care of that lad! |
| 86.2 : S Broad to Cummins, Shortish one from Woakes which came in, Cummins was right behind the line of the ball to block. |
| 86.3 : S Broad to Cummins, Wide one outside off, Cummins is not bothered, lets it go to the keeper. |
| 86.4 : S Broad to Cummins, Beaten! Fuller on off, asking Cummins to go for the drive. Cummins obliges to the bowler as he looked to drive but gets beaten on the inside edge. |
| 86.5 : S Broad to Cummins, Slightly short one outside off, Pat taps it towadrs point. |
| 86.6 : S Broad to Cummins, Good length ball but goes down the leg, Cummins looks to flick but misses. There was a noise but it was probably off the ball kissing the pad. A mild appeal from a few English players but nothing from the umpire. |
| 87.1 : C Woakes to Smith, FOUR LEG BYES! Woof! Bairstow will be relieved here as the ball has hit the thigh pad and not on the bat! Down the leg side, Smith looks to flick but misses. The ball hits the thigh pad and trudges towards the fine leg fence. |
| 87.2 : C Woakes to S Smith, Smith gets an inside edge and the ball hits him on the pads. |
| 87.3 : C Woakes to Smith, FOUR! Full this time outside off, Smith goes for the drive but gets an outside edge on it. The ball goes between gully and the slip cordon towards the third man fence. Looking shaky a bit here Steve Smith. |
| 87.4 : C Woakes to Smith, A loud appeal for LBW but denied by the umpire. Full outside off, Smith shuffles across, looks for the block but misses. He gets hit low on the back pad but the impact seems outside off. Replays roll in, and Hawk Eye comes that it was missing the off pole as well. Smith living dangerously here. |
| Gone, gone, gone! Smith has been adjudged LBW and he immediately starts walking. But Cummins calls him back and the great man takes the review. Looks dead plumb. Yes. Here comes Hawk Eye. Hitting middle stump. Smith misses out on becoming the first ever player to score 4 successive Ashes tons. |
| 87.5 : C Woakes to Smith, OUT! LBW! Steve Smith departs but only after a standing ovation from the home of cricket. He came out after getting injured and played bravely. |
| Nathan Lyon is the next man in. This should be done in the next 20 minutes or so. |
| 87.6 : C Woakes to Lyon, The batsman has attempted to put bat on ball but fails. |
| 88.1 : S Broad to Cummins, Good length outside off, Cummins blocks coming forward. Wanted a single but decided against it. |
| 88.2 : S Broad to Cummins, Shortish one from Broad, that shaped down the leg side, Cummins looks to tuck it around but missed. No edge there. |
| 88.3 : S Broad to Pat Cummins, Dropped! That was half a chance for sure. Shortish one outside off, Cummins looks to slam this over point but gets an outside edge which flies towards second slip. The ball was slightly higher but Roy couldn't get his jump to perfection and the ball didn't stick in his hands. The batters meanwhile take a single. |
| 88.4 : S Broad to Lyon, Fullish one outside off, Lyon blocks it well. |
| 88.5 : S Broad to Lyon, Going down the leg side this time, misses his flick. |
| 88.6 : S Broad to Lyon, Going down again, Lyon goes for a flick but misses again. |
| 89.1 : C Woakes to Cummins, Fullish ball on off, Cummins blocks it coming forward. |
| 89.2 : C Woakes to Cummins, Slightly fuller on fourth stump, Cummins lunges to block it back to the bowler. |
| 89.3 : C Woakes to Cummins, Fullish outside off again, Cummins drives it straight to the cover fielder. Came off from the toe end of the bat. |
| 89.4 : C Woakes to Cummins, Good length on off, Cummins taps it towards point. |
| 89.5 : C Woakes to Cummins, Goes fuller on middle this time, Cummins pushes it straight to the fielder at mid-wicket. |
| 89.6 : C Woakes to Pat Cummins, Fullish one again outside off, Cummins pushes it towards mid off, again came off from the toe end of the willow. |
| 90.1 : S Broad to Lyon, Beaten! That kept low. Fullish length around off stump, Lyon looks to push towards mid on, gets beaten. The ball dies down as it goes to Bairstow. |
| 90.2 : S Broad to Lyon, That sounded good off the bat but straight to the fielder. Fuller outside off, Lyon punches it straight to covers. |
| 90.3 : S Broad to N Lyon, Now a shortish length, on a good height to be pulled but Lyon misses as he gets an inside edge into his body. |
| 90.4 : S Broad to N Lyon, Gets his pull right this time as Broad dishes out another short one, gets off the mark with a single through mid-wicket. |
| 90.5 : S Broad to Cummins, Fullish on the leg pole, Cummins works it towards fine leg to change ends. |
| 90.6 : S Broad to Lyon, Bumper again but Lyon is up for the battle. Pulls this towards deep square leg to get a run. Good timing on that one from Lyon. |
| 91.1 : C Woakes to Lyon, Great catch by Jonny Bairstow! No? My ears are ringing then. A length ball down the leg side, Lyon looked to tuck but missed. Jonny dived to his left and took it with one glove. Went up in an appeal but Woakes says he did not hear anything. Good that Root does not review. Replays show that it went off the shirt. |
| 91.2 : C Woakes to Lyon, A length ball around off, solidly defended. |
| 91.3 : C Woakes to Lyon, Full and outside off, pushed straight to cover. |
| 91.4 : C Woakes to Lyon, Lovely shot but for nothing. Full and outside off, Garry drives this straight back but Woakes bends and stops it with his left hand. |
| 91.5 : C Woakes to Lyon, A length ball, down the leg side, helped through mid-wicket for a run. |
| 91.6 : C Woakes to Cummins, EDGED, FOUR! Did that carry? Not sure. A length ball outside off, Cummins pushes at it but the ball flies off the outside edge. The ball goes low to Ben Stokes at third slip who gets down to his left but cannot stop it, or catch it. Third man records another boundary. Cummins moves to 20 now. |
| 92.1 : S Broad to Lyon, Bouncer outside off from Broad, Lyon goes for a pull but misses. Played on a wrong line there. |
| 92.2 : S Broad to Lyon, That was in the air! Fuller ball on off, Lyon lofted it towards mid off uppishly but no fielder there. Leach runs from short extra cover to stop the ball. They take three. |
| 92.3 : S Broad to Cummins, Shortish around off, Cummins blocks it off his back foot. |
| 92.4 : S Broad to Cummins, Another shortish length to which Cummins lunges to block. |
| 92.5 : S Broad to Cummins, Fuller ball outside off, Cummins looked to drive this through the off side but it came off the inner half of the bat to roll towards Broad. On good days, this disturbs the timber. |
| 92.6 : S Broad to Pat Cummins, Outside edge now but doesn't carry. Good length outside off, Cummins fends at this but gets an outside edge. Root is in perfect position to gobble that but it just falls short of England skipper. |
| Jack Leach gets the ball in his hand again. 10-3-16-0 so far. Nice time for him to get a wicket or two. |
| OUT! LBW! Lyon has been adjudged and he does look dead plumb. Cummins advises his partner to take the review. Here comes Hawk Eye. Seems like there is some issue because the trajectory is not showing whether it has hit the stumps or clipped. Either ways, Lyon is out. But will Australia lose or retain their review? Okay, it is Hitting. Review lost then. |
| 93.1 : J Leach to Lyon, OUT! LBW! The decision stays as it is. Leach gets a wicket as well. Full and around leg, Lyon looked to defend but missed and got hit on the pads. leach appealed as soon the ball missed the bat, umpire Gaffaney thought long and hard and then raised his finger. Lyon looked at Cummins and then signalled the 'T'. Hawk Eye comes in and initially we are unable to understand whether the ball has clipped or hit the stumps. Lyon is asked to go and after some time, we come to know |
| 0.0 : Josh Hazlewood is the last man in. |
| 93.2 : J Leach to Hazlewood, Full and outside off, pushed towards cover. |
| 93.3 : J Leach to Hazlewood, Spinning in from outside off, worked through square leg for a single. |
| What will Pat Cummins do now? Go all out? |
| 93.4 : J Leach to Cummins, Down the leg side, Pat looks to flick but misses. The ball goes through the vacant fine leg region and the batsmen take a leg bye. |
| 93.5 : J Leach to Hazlewood, Outside off, solidly defended. |
| 93.6 : J Leach to J Hazlewood, Full and outside off, Hazlewood drives this through the covers and gets a couple. 250 up for Australia! The deficit is now 8. |
| 94.1 : S Broad to Cummins, Shortish ball on off, coming in to the right-hander who blocks it off his back foot. |
| 94.2 : S Broad to Cummins, Good length ball on off, Cummins blocks it off his back foot again. |
| 94.3 : S Broad to Cummins, OUT! Caught! Goes for a bumper but this is going down the leg side, Cummins goes for a massive pull to heave this over the mid-wicket fence. He is late into the shot and as the ball passes his attempt, it kisses the gloves. Bairstow goes to his left to grab that easily. Broad has his fourth. England manage to stay 8 runs ahead. |
| End of an eventful session. 5 wickets, 95 runs. Or shall we say 6 wickets? Because Smith was dismissed almost twice. Not a lot to choose between these two sides. The question now is, with 40 overs left in the day and 98 tomorrow, is there still time for a result? |
| The session started positively for the hosts, with Paine getting dismissed quickly. But then came the fine stand between Smith and Cummins. The pair was starting to counter-attack when Jofra Archer fired in a bouncer. And Smith was down. The crowd got silent as one when Smudge was down but got relieved when he got up. Concussion tests were being taken and Smith was ordered off the field. |
| Credit to Australia that they did not lose their way though, even after the Smith retirement. Siddle and Cummins played out valuable time, allowing Smith to get back on the field again. He missed his century by just 8 runs but crucially, took the visitors close to England's first innings total. Do not forget Pat Cummins' contribution as well. The lower order for Australia batted for 132 balls and scored 38 runs between themselves with the bat. That is almost batting out a whole session. |
| Excellent bowling by England but they were luckless. They could have got Australia all out before Lunch and even after that but the edges either kept getting beaten or finding the gaps. Archer got only 2 wickets but the spell that he bowled post Lunch will be remembered as one of the best ever at this ground. Broad helped himself to 4 wickets while Woakes got 3. |
| Right. England effectively 8/0 at this stage. Roughly 139 overs left in this game, with 41 scheduled to go for tonight. How much of them will we get in? Will the Aussies manage to pick wickets and keep England under check? Will the hosts go all out and try and get to 200 in 2 sessions and then declare, aiming to bowl Australia inside 2 sessions? Or will get a draw? Join us back at 4.30 pm local (1530 GMT) for the final session. |
| 0.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Right on target immediately. A length ball, around off, left alone. |
| 0.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Off the mark. A length ball, tucked past short leg for a single. |
| 0.3 : Pat Cummins to Roy, A length ball, around off, Roy gets squared up a touch and pushed it towards short mid-wicket. |
| 0.4 : Pat Cummins to Roy, A length ball around off, Jason taps this awkwardly to the off side. |
| 0.5 : Pat Cummins to Roy, A length ball outside off, JR pushes this watchfully towards the slip cordon. |
| 0.6 : Pat Cummins to Roy, Length ball outside off, stays a touch low, Roy looks to defend but the ball stays low and goes off the bottom edge towards mid off. |
| Josh Hazlewood to share the new-ball attack with Cummins. |
| 1.1 : J Hazlewood to Burns, FOUR! Length ball just outside off, Burns stands tall and punches this off the back foot towards the cover fence. Lyon gives it a chase but sloppily lets it go through for a boundary. |
| 1.2 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Good defense off the back foot on this length ball outside off. |
| 1.3 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Length ball outside off, Burns lets it go. |
| 1.4 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Bouncer this time, Rory does well to evade it. |
| 1.5 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Fuller this time but on middle and leg, Rory flicks it in the gap between mid on and mid-wicket and takes a couple. |
| 1.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Down the leg side again, Burns looks to flick but misses. |
| 2.1 : Pat Cummins to Roy, Cummins pitches this on middle and off and the ball goes further away as Roy misses his flick. |
| 2.2 : Pat Cummins to Roy, Shortish around the fourth stump line, Roy blunts it close to the body off his back foot. |
| 2.3 : Pat Cummins to Roy, Fuller ball around off, Roy blocks it solidly. |
| 2.4 : Pat Cummins to Roy, Shortish one, rising a bit but Roy works it nicely through deep backward square leg for one. Roy off the mark with that single. |
| 2.5 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Bumper this time to the left-hander but the line is down the leg side and it is too high, Rory ducks under it. |
| 2.6 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Beaten! Good delivery in the channel outside off. Burns looks to push and is beaten all ends up. Good end to the over from Cummins. |
| 3.1 : J Hazlewood to Roy, Shortish length on middle and off, comes in with the angle to hit on the stomach as Roy misses his flick. |
| 3.2 : J Hazlewood to Roy, Shortish but wide outside off, Roy is not lured at that one. |
| 3.3 : J Hazlewood to J Roy, Edged but didn't carry! This again is in the channel outside off. Roy has a poke at this without any feet movement. Gets an outside edge but the ball doesn't carry to the second slip fielder. |
| 3.4 : J Hazlewood to Roy, Shortish ball on middle and leg, Roy works it towards fine leg to get off strike. |
| 3.5 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Too high! Pitched short on middle and off but this goes high again. |
| 3.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, This time in the channel of uncertainty to the left-hander. Rory knows his off stump and leaves it alone. |
| 4.1 : Cummins to Roy, OUT! CAUGHT AND BOWLED! Cummins takes the first wicket of this English innings and Roy is dismissed for a paltry score of 2 runs. Cummins bowls this one short and on the body of Roy, he looks to flick it towards fine leg but gets a top edge on it. The ball loops behind Cummins and he runs back and catches it. Jubilation for Australia as Roy is out of here and England are 1 down for just 9 runs. |
| 0.0 : Skipper Root walks in. |
| 4.2 : Pat Cummins to Root, OUT! Caught! Massive blow for England. What a delivery first up to the England captain. Cummins is again in the channel for the right-hander. Root is new to the crease and wants to feel the first ball as he pokes at it and gets a thick edge to skipper Paine who is not going to miss out on that. Body blow this one. Australians smelling blood now. |
| The next batsman in for England is Joe Denly. England in a spot of bother here and Pat Cummins is on a hat-trick! |
| 4.3 : Pat Cummins to Denly, No hat-trick for Cummins. A length ball outside off, coming in a long way, Denly misses his tuck and is hit on the pads. |
| 4.4 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Outside off, in the avenue of apprehension, left alone. |
| 4.5 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Another leave outside off. |
| 4.6 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Outside off, on a length, JD looks to defend but the ball comes in a long way and beats the inside edge! Top over from Cummins. A DOUBLE WICKET MAIDEN! |
| 5.1 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Good length on off, Rory taps it on the off side. |
| 5.2 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Short ball on middle this time, Burns ducks under it nicely. |
| 5.3 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Good length outside off, came in after passing the batsman. A good leave from Burns though. |
| News is coming out that Steve Smith has gone to the hospital for a precautionary x-ray on his left elbow. He was hit by a Jofra Archer delivery over there as well. |
| 5.4 : J Hazlewood to Burns, IN THE AIR... SAFE! Shortish ball on the body, Burns looks to defend but the ball lobs towards Usman Khawaja at gully who is late to react as the ball drops very close to him. He got out similarly in the 2nd innings of last Test. |
| 5.5 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Another short ball, Burns evades this nicely. |
| 5.6 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Good length ball on middle and leg, Burns works it towards mid-wicket. They take a couple. |
| 6.1 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Length ball outside off, left alone by Denly. |
| 6.2 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Good length ball on off again, Denly gets the inner half of his bat on it and the ball rolls towards mid on. |
| 6.3 : Pat Cummins to Denly, FOUR! Short ball down the leg side this time by Cummins, Denly trying to keep it down gets a glove on this one and the ball races towards the fine leg fence. |
| 6.4 : Pat Cummins to Denly, On the hips of Denly, he looks to flick but misses his shot. It hits the thigh pad and the ball rolls towards backward square leg as Hazlewood there collects it. While collecting the ball, Hazlewood fell down almost doing a split. He quickly gets up and the batters take two in the meantime. |
| 6.5 : Pat Cummins to Denly, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 6.6 : Pat Cummins to Denly, Fuller on the legs, Denly pushes this towards mid-wicket. |
| 7.1 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Bouncer on the hips down the leg side, Burns looked to work it around but is hit on body. No run taken there. |
| 7.2 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Shortish one outside off, taps it off the back foot towards the off side. |
| 7.3 : J Hazlewood to R Burns, Bouncer again but outside off, Burns converge to pull but drags this towards square leg to take a run. |
| 7.4 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Fuller on off, Denly defends it well. |
| 7.5 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Good length ball on middle, Denly works it towards the leg side. |
| 7.6 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Good fuller ball on off, Denly walks across a bit to push it off the front foot. |
| 8.1 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Outside off on a length, Burns pushes this towards the cover fielder. |
| 8.2 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Length ball on middle and leg, Burns pushes it towards mid on. |
| 8.3 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Fuller this time outside off, Burns tries to block it out but the ball goes to gully off the outer half of his bat. |
| 8.4 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Bouncer this one outside off, Burns ducks under it. |
| 8.5 : Pat Cummins to Burns, On the pads of Burns, he flicks it towards square leg and takes a couple. |
| 8.6 : Pat Cummins to Burns, Length ball just outside off, Rory pushes it towards mid off. 2 runs off the over. |
| 9.1 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Good length delivery outside off, Denly lets it be. |
| 9.2 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Ouch! That must have hurt Denly. The ball shoots up after pitching on middle, Joe tries to block it out but the ball hits his glove and then his stomach. He looks a bit rocked by it. |
| 9.3 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Outside off, Denly leaves this one alone. |
| 9.4 : J Hazlewood to Denly, On the pads of Denly, he flicks it towards fine leg and takes a single. |
| 9.5 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Another one on the pads, this time to Burns. He also flicks it towards fine leg and takes a single. |
| 9.6 : J Hazlewood to Denly, On the hips, Denly glances this one towards backward square leg and keeps the strike. |
| First bowling change of the innings. Peter Siddle replaces Pat Cummins. |
| 10.1 : P Siddle to Denly, Length ball on off pole, Denly defends it. |
| 10.2 : P Siddle to Denly, Woah! What happened on this ball? Did it come off the crack on the surface? It pitched on a length and swung in quickly. The ball hit Denly's inside edge and then onto the box. Awkward scenes out here. |
| 10.3 : P Siddle to Denly, The batsman lets the ball go outside his off stump. |
| 10.4 : P Siddle to Denly, Outside off again, Denly leaves it alone. |
| 10.5 : P Siddle to Denly, Length ball outside off, Denly shoulders arms to it. |
| 10.6 : P Siddle to Denly, Fuller on middle and off, pushed to mid off, maiden by Siddle. |
| Spin time! Very early in this innings as Lyon comes to roll his arms. |
| 11.1 : N Lyon to Burns, Flat and way outside off, the ball pitches and turns away. Burns plays an awkward cut but straight to the cover fielder. |
| 11.2 : N Lyon to R Burns, FOUR! Too short and Burns punishes Lyon as he rocks onto the back foot and cuts this through point for a boundary. |
| 11.3 : N Lyon to Burns, On the pads this time, Burns flicks it towards square leg and rotates the strike. |
| 11.4 : N Lyon to Denly, Full and on the legs, pushed towards mid on. |
| 11.5 : N Lyon to Denly, Again tossed up and on the pads, Lyon pushes this one towards mid-wicket and crosses ends. |
| 11.6 : N Lyon to Burns, Short and outside off, Burns gets an under edge onto it and the ball goes very low near the keeper. It goes behind him and Warner from first slip mops it up. |
| 12.1 : P Siddle to Joe Denly, DROPPED! David Warner, of all the people. Unlucky is now becoming the nickname of Siddle. Super ball in the channel outside off, on a length. Denly has a poke with hard hands and gets an outside edge which flies to David Warner at first slip. He goes to his right slightly slowly as the ball dips but can't hold on that one. A missed opportunity there. |
| 12.2 : P Siddle to Denly, Shortish one this time on middle, Denly works it towards mid on to take a run. |
| 12.3 : P Siddle to Burns, Blocks this outside off ball off his front foot. |
| 12.4 : P Siddle to Burns, On the middle and leg line, Burns works it towards fine leg. |
| 12.5 : P Siddle to Burns, Beaten this time! Good bowling from Siddle as he is consistently bowling in that channel outside off. |
| 12.6 : P Siddle to Burns, Fuller in length outside off, Burns punches it to cover. |
| 13.1 : N Lyon to Denly, Tossed up outside off, Denly takes a stride forward and tries to play it towards the on side. It hits his pads as he misses the flick and the ball goes to Warner at first slip. |
| 13.2 : N Lyon to Denly, Floated on leg, Denly nudges it towards mid-wicket and takes a single. |
| 13.3 : N Lyon to Burns, This one short and outside off, Burns goes onto the back foot and guides it towards third man. Cummins there misfields and allows the batters to take two. |
| 13.4 : N Lyon to Burns, FOUR! Shorter than the last one and outside off, this time Burns makes full use of it and cuts it towards covers for a boundary. |
| 13.5 : N Lyon to Burns, Loud appeal by the Aussies for LBW but umpire Aleem Dar turns it down. Lyon bowls this one shorter and on middle and off. It goes in with the angle and hits Burns on the front pad as he misses to defend it. The Aussies appeal in unison but the umpire shakes his head. They think about going for the review but ultimately decide against it. The replays roll in, Hawk Eye comes into play and it shows THREE REDS! This could well prove to be a turning point in this match. |
| 13.6 : N Lyon to Burns, The batsman gives this a full swing of the bat, and connects. They manage to come back for the second. |
| 14.1 : P Siddle to Denly, Good length outside off, Denly leans and blocks it towards point. |
| 14.2 : P Siddle to Denly, Fuller ball on the stumps, Denly looked to flick this hard but is beaten to get hit on the pads. Ooohs and aaahs there but this was going down. Went to fine leg as the batsman change ends. |
| 14.3 : P Siddle to Burns, Shortish one on off, Burns taps this towards the off side. |
| 14.4 : P Siddle to Burns, Beaten but a no ball! Siddle oversteps there. This was in the channel outside off, Burns wanted to smash this but is beaten. |
| P Siddle to Burns, Outside off again on a good length, Burns leaves it alone. |
| 14.5 : P Siddle to Burns, This is slightly fuller, Burns pats it towards point. |
| 14.6 : P Siddle to Burns, A bumper but Siddle has got the direction wrong. Going down leg and too high. Burns ducks under it. |
| 15.1 : N Lyon to Denly, Tossed up just outside off, the ball pitches and moves away from Denly. He misses as he defends inside the line. Even Paine behind the stumps is not able to collect this one. |
| 15.2 : N Lyon to Joe Denly, Tossed up full and on leg, pushed to mid on. |
| 15.3 : N Lyon to Denly, FOUR! Great shot dancing down the track by Denly. Lyon tosses it up on middle and leg, Joe comes down the track and lofts it over mid on for a boundary. |
| 15.4 : N Lyon to Denly, Run out chance! Safe! More luck for England. Denly pushes this full ball towards mid on and sets off for a single. However, Burns is caught ball-watching and does not even take a start. Denly is almost within handshaking distance with his partner but has to stop. He now turns to go back and luckily for him, Usman Khawaja at mid on is slow to throw it to the keeper's end. Denly manages to get back in time. England living dangerously here. Burns should concentrate more on tr |
| 15.5 : N Lyon to Joe Denly, Short ball and on middle and leg, Denly pulls this towards mid-wicket and takes a single. |
| 15.6 : N Lyon to Burns, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| DRINKS BREAK. Australia's period for sure, but it could have been so much better. Burns' LBW not reviewed while Denly's catch put down. England are effectively 54/2 but they could have been 40/4. |
| 16.1 : P Siddle to Denly, Slightly shorter around off, Denly taps it towards gully. |
| 16.2 : P Siddle to Denly, Misses his line this time. Pitches this on middle and the ball goes further down towards Paine as Denly misses the flick. |
| 16.3 : P Siddle to Denly, FOUR BYES! Poor stuff this from Siddle. Another one going down the leg side. Denly missed his flick there. Paine dives to his left to stop that but it is too far from him. 50 up for Australia. |
| 16.4 : P Siddle to Denly, Fullish ball on off and middle, Denly looks to drive this but gets an inside edge which hits the pad. There's an appeal but a mild one. |
| 16.5 : P Siddle to Joe Denly, FOUR! Siddle produces an outside edge by pitching this on middle and off on a good length. The ball flies between slip and gully for a boundary. No luck for Siddle as yet. |
| 16.6 : P Siddle to Denly, Outside off, left alone. |
| Josh Hazlewood time. 5-0-13-0 so far. |
| 17.1 : J Hazlewood to Burns, Full ball on the pads of Burns, he flicks it towards backward square leg and rotates the strike. |
| 17.2 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Good length ball just outside off, played towards the cover fielder. |
| 17.3 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Length ball just outside off, Denly guides it towards the point fielder. |
| The ground staff is getting ready. A light drizzle is falling, actually. The umbrellas are slowly going up in the stands. |
| 17.4 : J Hazlewood to Denly, On the pads of Denly, he tucks it towards mid-wicket. |
| 17.5 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Short and outside off, Denly looks to cut but misses out on it. Could have resulted in some runs here. |
| 17.6 : J Hazlewood to Denly, Short ball this time by Hazlewood, Denly goes for the risky pull and top edges it. Luckily, the ball falls short of Travis Head at mid-wicket and the batters cross ends. No need for Denly to play such shots. |
| 18.1 : P Siddle to Denly, A short ball wide outside off, left alone. |
| 18.2 : P Siddle to Joe Denly, Full and outside off, Denly looks to drive but the ball scoots off the outside edge past gully towards third man. Three runs taken. 50-RUN STAND IS UP! Consecutive ones for these two. They added 66 in the first innings. |
| 18.3 : P Siddle to Burns, Full ball on middle and off, Rory tucks it towards mid-wicket and takes a single. |
| 18.4 : P Siddle to Denly, FOUR! Full and on the pads of Denly, he just rotates his wrists and plays a classy flick towards the mid-wicket fence. |
| 18.5 : Siddle to Denly, OUT! Caught and bowled! Siddle gets Denly and England are three down now. Siddle bowls this one on a good length just outside off, he rolls his finger on it and the ball gets slow off the pitch as a result. Denly is early into his shot and the ball goes uppishly towards Siddle and he makes no mistake in taking the catch with both his hands. England 3 down with just 64 runs on the board (Lead by 72). |
| Ben Stokes walks in next, at number 5, replacing Denly. An hour to go to Stumps, weather permitting. |
| 18.6 : P Siddle to Stokes, Outside off, Stokes lets this one be. |
| No surprise. Two left-handers at the crease and the skipper says that I want my spinner bowling. 19-2-67-3 for Lyon so far. |
| 19.1 : N Lyon to Burns, Short to start. Outside off, Burns cuts it through the covers for a single. |
| 19.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Outside off, looks to cut, does Stokes but he gets an under edge which bounces between Tim Paine's legs behind. Two runs taken. |
| 19.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, EDGED, FOUR! Late reaction from Warner. Full and around middle, Stokes looks to defend but gets squared up. Warner initially moves to his left at slip, then goes to his right but the extra second costs him. The ball goes past his right hand behind, to the third man fence. |
| 19.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, Close! Outside off, Ben looks to cut but almost misses. Gets a bottom edge towards point. |
| 19.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full and around off, pushed back to the bowler. |
| 19.6 : N Lyon to Ben Stokes, EDGED, DROPPED! David Warner again. Full and around off, Stokes looks to defend but the ball spins off the rough, takes the outside edge and flies to Warner at first slip. He has actually moved a step closer to Paine and hence has to dive to his left to take the catch. Had he stayed at his original position, he would have gobbled it. He is furious with himself. What an over from Lyon. |
| 20.1 : P Siddle to Burns, Full on middle and leg, Burns pushes this back to Siddle. |
| 20.2 : P Siddle to Burns, OUT! CAUGHT! Siddle gets another one and in a surprising turn of events, it is Australia who are now on top. Siddle pitches this one on the leg pole on a length. The ball pitches and drifts away from Burns. He tries to defend at it off the front foot but gets a fine outside edge on it and Paine takes an easy catch behind the wickets. Australia jump with joy and England in deep trouble here. England effectively here 79/4. |
| Jos Buttler walks in with his side in tatters. |
| 20.3 : P Siddle to Buttler, First ball faced by Buttler, he leaves it alone. |
| 20.4 : P Siddle to Buttler, Fuller this time around off, Buttler blocks it out. |
| 20.5 : P Siddle to Buttler, This time fuller on the pads of Buttler, he flicks it nonchalantly towards mid-wicket. Head there dives to his right and makes a superb stop to save a run for his side. He gets up and runs back and the batters take three in the meantime. |
| 20.6 : P Siddle to Stokes, Stokes lets the ball go outside his off stump. |
| 21.1 : Lyon to Buttler, Fuller ball outside off, Butter looks to work it around off side but gets an inside edge on the pads. |
| 21.2 : N Lyon to Buttler, Slightly fuller again, Buttler blocks it well towards point. |
| 21.3 : N Lyon to Buttler, What are you doing Buttler! Dances down the track to this middle and leg good length ball but misses the flick and is hit on the pad. The ball rolls towards fine leg and the batters cross ends. Lucky there that he got a tickle on the pads or he would've been stumped. |
| 21.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, Tossed up outside off, Stokes leaves the ball alone. |
| 21.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter this time and on off, Stokes goes on the back foot and blocks it out. |
| 21.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full and outside off, Stokes pushes this towards mid off. |
| 22.1 : P Siddle to Buttler, Full ball on off, pushed to mid off by Buttler. |
| 22.2 : P Siddle to Buttler, Short and outside off, Buttler leaves it alone. The ball swung way too much after the ball went past Buttler and Paine dives to his right to grab it. |
| 22.3 : P Siddle to Buttler, Length ball just outside off, it pitches and nips away from him. Buttler is beaten by the away movement on the ball. |
| 22.4 : P Siddle to Buttler, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 22.5 : P Siddle to Buttler, LEADING EDGE, RUN OUT CHANCE, BOTH SAFE! Ohhh... things are happening. Full and outside off, swinging in, Buttler looks to flick but the ball takes the leading edge and goes over Siddle. Stokes looks for the single but Buttler is busy searching for the ball. Stokes has to turn and meanwhile mid on gets across and has a throw at the bowler's end but it is pretty wide! The big Ben dives in. |
| 22.6 : P Siddle to Buttler, Outside off, left alone. |
| 23.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full on off, Stokes lunges to block it back to the bowler. |
| 23.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, That spit off the surface. Pitched on the rough on off and went high in the gloves of Paine. |
| 23.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, Good length ball on leg, Stokes looks to punch through mid-wicket but is hit on the pads. That looked going down the leg side but surprisingly Hawk Eyes suggests it was hitting the leg pole. No reviews from Australia. |
| 23.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, Another one that lands on rough and goes away from the batsman, Stokes does nothing. |
| 23.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Works this towards fine leg to take a run. |
| 23.6 : N Lyon to Jos Buttler, Buttler taps this good length ball on the off side comfortably. |
| 24.1 : P Siddle to Stokes, MORE LUCK! A length ball, down the leg side, Stokes looks to flick but gets a leading edge which balloons over square leg! A single taken. |
| 24.2 : P Siddle to Buttler, A length ball outside off, watchfully defended. |
| 24.3 : P Siddle to Buttler, The batsman lets the ball go outside his off stump. |
| 24.4 : P Siddle to Buttler, Full and outside off, driven through the covers for a run. |
| 24.5 : P Siddle to Stokes, Outside off, angling away, left alone. |
| 24.6 : P Siddle to Stokes, Walks down the track and defends. |
| 25.1 : N Lyon to Buttler, Outside off, spinning in, Buttler looks to cut but gets a bottom edge onto his pads. |
| 25.2 : N Lyon to Jos Buttler, Full and outside off, Jos drives this through the covers but Travis Head dives to his right and makes an excellent stop. |
| 25.3 : N Lyon to Jos Buttler, Tossed up, outside off, driven to the left of Josh Hazlewood at mid off. |
| 25.4 : N Lyon to Buttler, Around middle, pushed towards the bowler. |
| 25.5 : N Lyon to Buttler, Floated, around middle, solidly blocked towards cover. |
| 25.6 : N Lyon to Buttler, Around off, pushed towards point. |
| Pat Cummins is back on. 5-1-8-2 so far. |
| 26.1 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, On a length around middle and leg, Stokes lets it go on length and it goes over his stumps. |
| 26.2 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Outside off, left alone. |
| 26.3 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Walks into the shot and pushes this towards mid on. |
| 26.4 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, A length ball, down the leg side, Ben looks to tuck it to the leg side but misses and is hit on the pads. He is searching for the ball and then gets back in his crease. |
| 26.5 : Pat Cummins to Ben Stokes, Now an inside edge. A length ball, around middle, BS looks to tuck it to the leg side but misses and is hit on the pads off an inside edge. |
| 26.6 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Outside off, left alone. |
| 27.1 : N Lyon to Buttler, Down the leg side, nudged through fine leg. Pat Cummins races all the way from deep backward square leg and dives to his right to stop the ball. Three runs taken. |
| 27.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Outside off, punched back to the bowler. |
| 27.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full and around middle, blocked watchfully. |
| 27.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, Down the leg side, tucked towards fine leg for a single. |
| 27.5 : N Lyon to Buttler, Flicks this towards mid-wicket for a run. |
| 27.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Defended off the front foot by the batsman presenting the full face of the bat. |
| 28.1 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Fullish ball on fourth stump line, Buttler blocks it off his front foot. |
| 28.2 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Good length ball on middle and leg, Buttler pushes it towards mid on. |
| 28.3 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Beaten! Gets the batsman to play by pitching the ball closer to the off stump, it straightened a bit as it came closer to the bat. Buttler was lucky not to edge that one. |
| 28.4 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, FOUR LEG BYES! Poor one now! Pitches this on middle and leg and seamed further down the leg side. Buttler misses his flick but the ball kisses the pads and go fine for a boundary. |
| 28.5 : Pat Cummins to Jos Buttler, Fullish one on middle and leg, Buttler works this towards mid-wicket and take a couple. |
| 28.6 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Wide outside off on fifth stump, Buttler left it alone. |
| 29.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full and around middle, watchfully defended. |
| 29.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, How did that miss the off stump? Full and outside off, just missing the rough, Stokes lets it go and the ball goes straight on, just missing the off stick by inches! |
| 29.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, This one darts in after pitching on the rough, Ben looks to defend but gets a thick inside edge onto his pads. |
| 29.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 29.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full and down the leg side, flicked through mid-wicket for a run. |
| 29.6 : N Lyon to Buttler, Around off, solidly defended. |
| 30.1 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Shortish one outside off, Stokes looks to power this through cover but mistimes it onto the pitch. |
| 30.2 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Full on middle this time, Stokes works it nicely towards mid-wicket and run a couple. |
| 30.3 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Beaten! Swing and miss from Stokes. This is not needed right now with just a few overs left for the day. Wide outside off, Stokes again goes hard at the ball, gets beaten. |
| 30.4 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Good shot that but finds the fielder in the mid off region. |
| 30.5 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, FOUR! On the pads from Cummins as Stokes works it fine down the leg side to get a four. |
| 30.6 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Outside off this time from Cummins, Stokes lets it be. |
| Josh Hazlewood returns. 6-0-15-0 so far. |
| 31.1 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Fullish just outside off pole, Buttler pushes it to the cover fielder. |
| 31.2 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Outside off, left alone by Buttler. |
| 31.3 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Again a length ball outside off, Buttler shoulders arms to it. |
| 31.4 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Fuller this time, the ball pitches and moves away from Jos. |
| 31.5 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Finally Hazlewood attacks the stumps, it pitches on a good length on off. Jos blocks it out. |
| 31.6 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Again outside off, Buttler lets it go. Maiden by Josh but the Australians need a wicket here so that they can end the day on a good note. |
| 32.1 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Length ball outside off, Stokes lets it be. It seems that the English players are trying every way possible to waste some time as we see Ben Stokes tapping the pitch before the start of the over. |
| 32.2 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Defended off the back foot by Stokes and it looks like the heavens have opened up as well. That's it! STUMPS ON DAY 4! |
| What a day of cricket. 89.4 overs, 266 runs, 10 wickets. When Australia batted out 2 sessions, it seemed like there is nothing else but a draw left in this game. But England's mini collapse has got the match open once again. 98 overs. Two nervous teams. A riveting Day 5 awaits us. |
| Saturday started with Australia tantalizingly poised on 80/4, but Steve Smith and the lower order bailed the team out of trouble. The former skipper took a lot of blows on his body and the neck, left the ground being retired hurt but then came back to battle hard. If Australia do get to bat on Sunday, he will be definitely needed and the fact that he has been ruled out of any fracture on his arm or concussion comes as massive relief to Australia. |
| It will be interesting to see how England play this. Do they be proactive and score quickly, declaring at a time which is enough for their bowlers to take 10 wickets? Or do they just bat and bat and bat and make Australia toil? Remember, the next Test is on 22nd August, so they will make sure that the visitors do not recover in time. |
| Australia have got a small carrot dangling in front of them. They have a slim chance of winning but for that, they will need to bowl England out before the lead crosses 150. Once the 150-mark is breached, the tourists' batting, which has been under the scanner as well, might find itself under severe pressure. |
| Day 5. 98 overs. Four results possible. What will happen? Who will win? Will anyone win? Join us at 11 am local (1000 GMT) for all the action from the Sunday drama. ADIOS! TAKE CARE! |
| ... Day 5, Session 1 ... |
| Welcome to our coverage of Day 5 of the 2nd Ashes Test! As it stands, the match is slightly in the favor of the visitors with England reeling at 96/4. The hosts lead by 104 runs. Are they thinking of a win? If they are, they will have to score some quick runs and then look to bundle Australia out. Also, in the search of quick runs, they might lose wickets and that would mean Australia will have an upper hand. As long as the visitors are concerned, they would not want to chase anything over 200. |
| How is Steve Smith? That is the first and only question. He was pummeled down (in the literal meaning) by his Indian T20 league mate, Jofra Archer and his resilience to come back and fight was the talk of the town. England will believe that he may not be the same old self and will back themselves to get Australia all out quickly. |
| Now, the second chain of thought. It is overcast today. Do you risk your bowlers and fielders by declaring? Thanks to a damp outfield, it might be slippery as well. Wouldn't it be better if you just keep batting and batting and batting and tire the Aussies out? The next Test is just 3 days away. |
| We are all ready to begin. Oops... this is what happens when you write the same thing every day. WE ARE NOT READY TO BEGIN. It is raining in London and we are not going to have a start on time. So, on an already extended day, we will be having a delayed start. There is water on the covers and puddles on the outfield. We might need at least an hour before we begin. But first, the rain needs to stop. |
| Update 1126 Local (1026 GMT) - Finally we have a good news! The rain has stopped and the covers are coming off too. There will be an inspection at 1140 local. |
| Update 1145 local (1045 GMT) - The rain has gone... for now at least, the inspection is done and we are all set to start at 1210 local. 88 overs to be bowled today. |
| We are all set to begin. Isa Guha to ring the bell. Pat Cummins to resume the proceedings for Australia on Day 5. Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler step out onto the pitch for England. 2 slips and a gully in place. We also have some news on Steve Smith. He is ruled out of this match and the third Test match as well due to a concussion suffered yesterday. Marnus Labuschagne replaces him in the field. Here we go... |
| 32.3 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Play and a miss to begin the day. Cummins steams in and hits the deck hard outside off, Stokes has a slash at it but misses. |
| 32.4 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Back of a length and outside off, Stokes leaves it alone. |
| 32.5 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Bounce and swing on this one. Good length ball outside off, Stokes covers his off stump and leaves it alone. There is late inswing on this one. Paine takes it around his head towards his right. |
| 32.6 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Length ball outside off, Stokes once again has a slash but misses. One of the biggest overs this as it started on Day 4 and ended on Day 5 after an hour's delay. |
| Nathan Lyon to partner Cummins from the other end. |
| 33.1 : N Lyon to Buttler, First run of the day. Off spinner on off, Buttler turns it behind square on the leg side with the spin and gets a single. |
| 33.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flighted outside off, Stokes leaves it alone. |
| 33.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, Slightly shorter on off and middle, Stokes defends off the back foot. |
| 33.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, Floated outside off, Ben shoulders arms to his one. |
| 33.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Sharp spin on this one. It is pitched on off and spins away, Stokes defends it towards cover with the spin. |
| 33.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flatter and quicker on middle and leg, Stokes looks to defend but it goes off the inner half of his bat towards square leg for a single. Stokes will keep the strike. |
| 34.1 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Good length ball on top of middle and off, Stokes gets on his back foot and defends it. |
| 34.2 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, EDGED AND FOUR! Nicely bowled this by Cummins. He bowls a pacy full ball outside off, tempting Stokes to drive. He obliges but gets a thick outside edge. It flies to the right of gully, Khawaja there dives on that side but cannot get his hand to it. The ball races away to the third man fence for a boundary. |
| 34.3 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, FOUR! This is right off the meat. Brutal hitting. Good length ball outside off, Stokes picks the length early and flat-bats it wide of short cover. Wade there does not even move as he had little to no time to react. The ball goes wide and over him to the fence. |
| 34.4 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Peach of a delivery! Length ball on the fourth stump line, it nips back in a lot after pitching. Stokes though shows his awareness and leaves it alone. The ball just about misses his front pad. |
| 34.5 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Not much swing on this one, it is outside off and calmly left. |
| 34.6 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, On the fourth stump line, Stokes does not tease that one. |
| 35.1 : N Lyon to Buttler, Tossed up on off, Buttler defends it off the front foot. |
| 35.2 : N Lyon to Buttler, Flighted on off, Buttler blocks it out. |
| 35.3 : N Lyon to Buttler, Slightly short and turning in, Buttler defends it off the back foot towards cover against the spin. |
| 35.4 : N Lyon to Buttler, Off spinner pitching on off, Buttler glances it with the spin towards fine leg for a single. |
| 35.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Arm ball outside off, Ben gets on his front foot and leaves it alone. |
| 35.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter on off, Ben calmly defends it to get through the over. |
| 36.1 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Good length ball around off, Buttler defends it towards point. |
| 36.2 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, On a length very close to the off pole, Buttler keeps his eyes on the ball and defends it. |
| 36.3 : Pat Cummins to Jos Buttler, Fuller on off, Jos Buttler pushes it to cover. |
| 36.4 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Cummins maintains his off stump line to Buttler. This is served full, Jos defends it to the left of mid off. |
| 36.5 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Good length ball outside off, Jos has nothing to do with it. |
| 36.6 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Length ball around off, Buttler defends it towards cover-point to get through the over unscathed. Maiden for Pat. |
| 37.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter on off, Stokes gets on his back foot and defends it onto the ground. |
| 37.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flatter on off, Stokes defends it off the back foot. |
| BREAKING NEWS - Marnus Labuschagne has been approved by the ICC as an active player as he replaces Steve Smith and thus, he becomes the first ever concussion substitute made in cricketing history. Apparently, Smith reported grogginess and a headache this morning and his response to concussion testing had deteriorated. His availability for the Leeds Test now could be doubtful as players cannot participate in training for at least 6 days. |
| 37.3 : N Lyon to Ben Stokes, Tossed up on off and middle, Ben strokes it to mid on. |
| 37.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, FOUR! Well placed and very well timed. Tossed up on off, Stokes just times it wide of mid on. He does not use power but just pure timing. Hazlewood gives it a chase from mid on and puts in a dive to pull it back but he fails in his attempt to do so. |
| 37.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Follows it up with a calm back foot defense. |
| 37.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter on off, BS keeps it out. |
| 38.1 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Good length ball outside off, Cummins wants Buttler to go for a drive but Jos says no and leaves it. |
| 38.2 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Outside off and once again Jos is not interested. |
| 38.3 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Appeal for LBW but turned down. Full on middle and leg, Buttler looks to flick but misses. The ball hits him flush on the pads. There is an appeal from the Australian players but nothing from the umpire. It looked to be going down the leg and hence no review. Smart bowling this though, outside off, outside off and then one on the stumps. |
| 38.4 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Fuller on off, Buttler blocks it off the front foot. |
| 38.5 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Short ball down the leg side, it does not raise as much. Buttler though ducks under it. Paine dives to his left and takes a good carry. |
| 38.6 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Length ball outside off, Buttler leaves it alone. |
| 39.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Short around off, Stokes hangs back on his back foot and punches it to sweeper cover for one. |
| 39.2 : N Lyon to Buttler, Off spinner on off, Buttler glances it to short leg. |
| 39.3 : N Lyon to Buttler, Floated on off, Buttler tucks it to short leg. |
| 39.4 : N Lyon to Buttler, Flighted outside off, Buttler looks to drive it to the off side but it goes off the inner half of his bat towards mid-wicket. |
| 39.5 : N Lyon to Buttler, Floats one on the pads, Buttler glances it to the on side. |
| 39.6 : N Lyon to Buttler, Loopy ball on off, JB defends it to get through the over. |
| Josh Hazlewood is into the attack for the first time today. |
| Just at the last moment, Paine signals the 'T' to take a referral for LBW. Looks like a tough decision as the bat seems to be hitting the ball and pad at the same time. |
| 40.1 : Hazlewood to Stokes, NOT OUT! Pitching outside leg and also the inside edge. Waste of a review by the Austrlian team. This is on a good length ball outside leg, the ball hits the inside edge of Stokes' bat and then onto the pads. However, the Australians gambled on this one and thought that the ball hit the pads directly. |
| 40.2 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, The batsman lets the ball go outside his off stump. |
| 40.3 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Beaten! Stokes tries to play at this ball outside off but fails. |
| 40.4 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Length ball on top of middle, Stokes just helps it towards mid-wicket for a single. |
| 40.5 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, This one keeps low, something similiar in the 1st Test was the undoing for Buttler. This time Jos keeps his eyes on the ball and defends it late. |
| 40.6 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Good length delivery on off, Buttler defends it off the front foot to get through the over. |
| 41.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter around off, Stokes defends it off the front foot. |
| 41.2 : N Lyon to Ben Stokes, EDGED AND FOUR! That was not far away from Warner at first slip. Tossed up outside off, Stokes falls in the honey trap to drive. The ball turns away and finds the thick outside edge of Ben's willow. It flies to the left of Warner at first slip who dives but it goes wide of him and to the third man fence for a boundary. |
| 41.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter on off, Stokes keeps it out. |
| 41.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, On the pads, BS flicks it to the on side. |
| 41.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Once again on the pads, Ben tucks it to mid-wicket. |
| 41.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Jaffa to end the over. This is pitched around off and turns in sharply. Stokes looks to defend but misses and the ball goes onto hit the thigh pad of Stokes. |
| 42.1 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Good length ball outside off, Buttler leaves it alone. |
| 42.2 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Back of a length ball on off, JB defends it off the back foot. |
| 42.3 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Length ball around off, Buttler stands tall and punches it wide of cover for one. |
| 42.4 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Nicely bowled. Hazlewood hits the deck hard around off, Stokes looks to defend it inside the line and the away movement sees the ball go to the keeper. |
| 42.5 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Outside off, Stokes shoulders arms to it. |
| 42.6 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Fuller on middle, Stokes comes down the track and taps it back to the bowler. |
| 43.1 : N Lyon to Buttler, Shorter around off, Buttler nudges it to mid-wicket. |
| 43.2 : N Lyon to Buttler, Tossed up around off, Jos gets on his front foot and keeps it out. |
| 43.3 : N Lyon to Buttler, Flighted around off, Buttler drives it through point and gets a couple to take the partnership to 49. |
| 43.4 : N Lyon to Jos Buttler, Floated on off, Buttler looks to drive but it goes to the on side off the inner half of his blade. |
| 43.5 : N Lyon to Jos Buttler, Flighted outside off, Buttler looks to drive but gets an inside edge onto his body. |
| 43.6 : N Lyon to Buttler, Tossed up away from the off stump, Buttler leaves it alone. |
| 11.4 overs have been bowled today and England still have 6 wickets intact with Stokes and Buttler going strong. The match seems to be heading back in the balance and maybe towards a draw too. |
| 44.1 : J Hazlewood to Ben Stokes, Short length ball on the leg pole, Stokes pulls it towards square leg for a single. 50-run stand up between Stokes and Buttler. This stand has tilted the match back in the balance. England will be getting a move on here too if they want to stand any chance of winning this match. |
| 44.2 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Length ball outside off, Buttler leaves it alone. |
| 44.3 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Full and on the pads of Buttler, he flicks it towards deep mid-wicket and the batters take a couple. |
| 44.4 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Again outside off, Buttler shoulders arms to it. |
| 44.5 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Length ball just outside off, Buttler pushes it towards the point fielder. |
| 44.6 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Bouncer to end the over, Buttler ducks under it and the ball goes to Tim Paine behind the stumps. |
| 45.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Good length ball on middle and off, Stokes pushes it with soft hands towards covers and takes a single. |
| 45.2 : N Lyon to Buttler, FOUR! Full and tossed up outside off, Buttler leans into the drive and caresses the ball through the cover region for a boundary. |
| 45.3 : N Lyon to Buttler, Full and tossed up on middle and leg, pushed back to Lyon. |
| 45.4 : N Lyon to Jos Buttler, Flat on off and middle, goes towards the off side off the outside half of the bat. |
| 45.5 : N Lyon to Buttler, Full and floated, Buttler pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 45.6 : N Lyon to Buttler, Length ball just outside off, pushed to point off the back foot. |
| 46.1 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, FOUR! MAJESTIC! All of a sudden, England are playing with renewed vigour. Full and around middle, Stokes drives this straight back. Hazlewood tries stopping it with his right hand, putting half a bend, but the ball whizzes past. The lead is 140 now. |
| 46.2 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Length ball just outside off, pushed back towards the bowler. Hazlewood bends and tries to get a hand to it but fails to do so as the ball goes towards mid on. |
| 46.3 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Length ball just outside off, Stokes pulls it towards mid-wicket and gets a single. |
| 46.4 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, EDGED AND FOUR! Buttler gets lucky on this one. Pitched full and on off, Buttler goes for a cover drive but gets a thick outside edge as the ball goes between gully and the slip cordon to the third man fence. |
| 46.5 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 46.6 : J Hazlewood to Buttler, Length ball on the off pole, Buttler defends it off the back foot. |
| 47.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Floated on middle, Stokes looks to defend but he does so off the inner half of his bat. |
| 47.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flighted on the stumps, Stokes gets forward and defends it off the front foot. |
| 47.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, Tossed up on off, Ben keeps it out. |
| 47.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, Short around off, Stokes gets on his back foot and punches it to cover for one. |
| 47.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter on the stumps, Stokes gets on his back foot and keeps it out. |
| 47.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Excellent running. These two know each other well and that was visible here. Floated delivery on the pads, Stokes glances it towards fine leg. The fielder from square leg gives it a chase and pulls it back before the ropes. Stokes and Buttler are both quick between the wickets, they look for the third and get it with ease. |
| Peter Siddle back into the attack to bowl his first over of the day. 8-2-19-2 so far from him. |
| 48.1 : P Siddle to Stokes, Wide and full outside off, Stokes leaves it alone. |
| 48.2 : P Siddle to Stokes, This time a touch short, Stokes pushes it towards mid off. |
| 48.3 : P Siddle to Stokes, Beaten! Good length ball just outside off, Stokes looks to push at it but does so inside the line and misses. |
| 48.4 : P Siddle to Stokes, Well outside off, Stokes lets it be. |
| 48.5 : P Siddle to Stokes, Very well left from Stokes. Siddle comes steaming in and delivers a length ball around off, Stokes comes down the track and then shoulders arms to it. You seldom see that and this shows the confidence this man is carrying. |
| 48.6 : P Siddle to Stokes, Fuller on middle and leg, defended towards the leg side by Stokes. Good start by Siddle. |
| 49.1 : N Lyon to Buttler, Flat and on the pads of Buttler, he blocks it out. |
| 49.2 : N Lyon to Buttler, Full and tossed up outside off, Buttler blocks it out. |
| 49.3 : N Lyon to Buttler, This is pitched on the leg pole, it turns in and hits the pads of Buttler. It loops towards short leg and he dives to catch it but isn't able to do so. Leg bye taken as the ball rolls towards fine leg. |
| 49.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, The ball pitches just outside the off pole and spins away, Stokes is beaten by the turn as he looks to defend. |
| 49.5 : N Lyon to Ben Stokes, That ball has taken the inside edge of the batsman and thudded into his pads. |
| 49.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, On the pads of Stokes, he flicks it towards mid on and keeps the strike. The lead is now 150. |
| 50.1 : P Siddle to Stokes, Good length ball on off, Stokes defends it towards cover. |
| 50.2 : P Siddle to Stokes, Fullish ball on middle and off pole, Stokes comes down the track and tries to hit the ball towards mid on. It takes the leading edge of his bat and the ball goes to point and the batters take two. |
| 50.3 : P Siddle to Stokes, On the pads of Stokes, he flicks it down the leg side. |
| 50.4 : P Siddle to Stokes, Length ball on middle and off, Stokes plays it back towards the bowler. |
| 50.5 : P Siddle to Stokes, Comes down the track this time and Siddle pulls his length short. Stokes adjusts at the last moment and defends it out. |
| 50.6 : P Siddle to Stokes, Length ball outside off, Stokes looks to push it towards covers. It takes the leading edge of his blade and the ball goes towards third man as the batters take one. |
| 51.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter on off, Stokes continues to defend Lyon of his back foot. |
| 51.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, FIFTY FOR BEN STOKES! His 19th in Test cricket. He has continued his good form and once again when England were in trouble, Stokes raises his hands up and delivers. Short around off, Stokes cuts it to get to his milestone. He raises his bat and soaks in all the applause. |
| 51.3 : N Lyon to Buttler, FOUR! Creamed away! Floated on off, Buttler gets on his front foot and dives it beautifully through covers for a boundary. |
| 51.4 : N Lyon to Buttler, Floated on off, Buttler follows the boundary with a single towards cover. |
| 51.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Tossed up outside off, Stokes lets it go. |
| 51.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flights one on off, Stokes defends it off the front foot. |
| 52.1 : P Siddle to Buttler, Length ball just outside off, Buttler walks a bit down the track and the ball hits the inside edge of his bat and onto the pads. |
| 52.2 : P Siddle to Buttler, Outside off, left alone by Buttler. |
| 52.3 : P Siddle to Jos Buttler, Good length ball this time, Buttler pushes it nicely towards the cover fielder. |
| 52.4 : P Siddle to Buttler, Wide outside off stump, the batsman leaves it alone. |
| 52.5 : P Siddle to Buttler, Outside off, Buttler leaves it alone. |
| 52.6 : P Siddle to Buttler, FOUR LEG BYES! Length ball just outside the leg pole, Buttler looks to flick but misses. The ball hits his pads and goes towards the fine leg fence. Umpire Gaffaney waits for the Australian team to finish their decision on taking the LBW review and then signals leg byes. |
| 53.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, WOW! That one has kept low and somehow managed to miss the stumps too. It is pitched on the rough outside off, Stokes looks to defend but the ball keeps very low and goes under Stokes' defensive bat on to the keeper. |
| 53.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Floated on middle, Stokes defends it off the front foot. |
| 53.3 : N Lyon to Ben Stokes, Floated outside off, Stokes looks to defend with soft hands. The ball takes the outside edge and goes wide of a diving first slip for a single. |
| 53.4 : N Lyon to Buttler, Floated around off, Buttler looks to defend but misses. |
| 53.5 : N Lyon to Buttler, In the air and just wide. Tossed up on middle, Buttler drives it uppishly as the ball sticks onto the surface. Luckily he pushes it way wide, to the right of the bowler. Lyon dives but cannot get close. The batsmen take a single as the fielder from long on gathers it. |
| 53.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flighted on off, Ben keeps it out to get to Lunch without any casualties. |
| LUNCH! Advantage England! Good session for England from all perspectives. The overnight batsmen who walked out to bat after the delay in play are still at the crease and continued the good momentum for them. It was expected that England would have come out aggressively but they just continued scoring around 3 runs per over. 21.4 overs bowled in this session, 61 runs scored and no wickets lost. Stokes has completed his 19th half ton of his Test career and looks to be going strong with Buttler who |
| So, do England go for the win and come out all guns blazing after Lunch (especially as they know that Steve Smith is not there for Australia) or do they play safely and drive this match towards a draw (which it already is)? Join us soon to find out! |
| ... Day 5, Session 2 ... |
| We are back for the second session. Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler walk out to resume their innings. Pat Cummins to bowl the first over of the session. |
| 54.1 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Starts the new session with an unwelcoming bouncer. It is around middle and leg, Buttler sits under it. |
| 54.2 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Good length ball outside off, Buttler continues his cautious approach and leaves it alone. |
| 54.3 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Fuller on the fifth stump line, Buttler leaves it alone. |
| 54.4 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Second bouncer of the over and it is also closer to the body. Buttler picks it early and ducks under it. |
| 54.5 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, On the fourth stump line and fuller in length. Jos offers no stroke. |
| 54.6 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, Gets bat on ball for the first time in this session. Back of a length ball on off, Buttler gets on his toes and keeps it down. |
| Nathan Lyon to continue from the other end. |
| 55.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Floated on off, Stokes keeps it out. |
| 55.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, That has spun leaps and bounds. It is pitched on the rough and spins in. Stokes looks to drive but misses. Paine too cannot gather it as the ball deflects off his gloves towards the third man region for one. They steal a bye. |
| 55.3 : N Lyon to Buttler, Excellent shot but straight to the man at cover. Flighted on off, Buttler drives it hard but cannot get it past the fielder at short cover. |
| 55.4 : N Lyon to Buttler, Floated on the stumps, Buttler gets behind it and blocks it. |
| 55.5 : N Lyon to Buttler, On the pads, Buttler glances it to mid-wicket with the spin. |
| 55.6 : N Lyon to Buttler, Shorter on top of off, Jos defends it to get through the over. |
| 56.1 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Back of a length ball outside off, Stokes lets it carry to the keeper. |
| 56.2 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Excellent running, Good length ball on middle, Stokes tucks it with soft hands towards mid-wicket and immediately calls for two. The ball is to the left of the fielder and the duo of Buttler and Stokes are quick so they manage to get the second with ease. |
| 56.3 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Short ball which rises just over the belly. It is down the leg side, Stokes goes for the pull but misses. |
| 56.4 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Length delivery on off, Ben strokes it to point and gets to the other end. |
| 56.5 : Pat Cummins to Buttler, On a length around off, Buttler nudges it to point. |
| 56.6 : Pat Cummins to Jos Buttler, OUT! Caught! Buttler's patient innings comes to end. The short ball does the trick here and Cummins has ended this building stand. Cummins bangs it in short around the body. Buttler goes for the pull but gets a top edge on it. It goes high and straight to deep backward square leg. Hazlewood there hardly moves an inch and takes a simple catch. Soft dismissal for Buttler, he would be gutted to get out in such a fashion especially after taking his time out in the m |
| Jonny Bairstow walks out to the middle. |
| 57.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, On the pads, Stokes glances it to the on side for a single. |
| 57.2 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Play and miss! Floated outside off, Bairstow looks to drive but misses. Not an ideal start for the innings for Jonny. |
| 57.3 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Bairstow is off the mark with some help by the misfield. Tossed up on off, Bairstow strokes it to the right of mid off. Head there moves and dives to his right but fails to gather the ball. It deflects towards mid on and they take a single. |
| 57.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, On the pads, Stokes looks to flick but the ball deflects off his pad fine down the leg side. There is a stifled appeal as the ball hits his thigh pad but the umpire is unmoved. The ball goes fine down the leg side and they take two leg byes. |
| Australia have taken a review for LBW. Stokes is the man in question. The players are having a laugh in the middle as the Hawk Eye has some issues and the decision is on stand-by. Finally, the Hawk Eye comes in and shows that... MISSING LEG! |
| 57.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, NOT OUT! Australia lose both their reviews. Floated delivery on middle and leg, Stokes looks to defend but misses and the ball hits him on the pads. There is a confident appeal from the Aussie players. Paine has a word with Lyon and then takes it upstairs. Replay rolls in and first confirms there is no bat involved. After some technical error our wait prolongs to see the Hawk Eye. After some laughs, Hawk Eye rolls in and it shows that the ball was missing the leg stump. |
| 57.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, Tossed up on off, Stokes keeps it out. |
| 58.1 : Pat Cummins to J Bairstow, Good length ball on middle, Bairstow pushes it towards mid on. |
| 58.2 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Bouncer! Bairstow sits under it. |
| 58.3 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, On the pads, Bairstow glances it fine down the leg side for a single. |
| 58.4 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Outside off, Stokes leaves it alone. |
| 58.5 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Fuller on off, Stokes keeps it out. |
| 58.6 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Good length ball around off, Stokes drives it wide of sweeper cover for a couple. |
| 59.1 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On the pads, Bairstow looks to defend but the ball takes the outside edge towards the side of the pitch on the off side for one. |
| 59.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Floats one on off, Ben strokes it to cover and gets to the other end. |
| 59.3 : N Lyon to Bairstow, SIX! Brilliant shot! Tossed up on middle, Bairstow comes down the track, gets to the pitch of the ball and smashes it over the long on fence for a biggie. |
| 59.4 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Now the reverse sweep. It is on middle, Jonny gets down on one knee and reverse sweeps it towards third man for one. |
| 59.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flighted outside off, Stokes looks to defend but gets a thick outside edge. The ball falls short and spins in after pitching. Labuschagne at second slip dives but gets beaten by the spin. The ball goes past him towards the third man fence. Three taken. |
| 59.6 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Floated outside leg, Bairstow gets down on one knee and looks to play the paddle sweep. Tim Paine takes the ball and puts in a confident appeal. Aleem Dar is unmoved. Australia do not have any reviews left. It would have been wasted even if they had a review as the ball had indeed missed the bat which is later confirmed by Ultra Edge. |
| 60.1 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Good length ball around off, Stokes punches it towards cover for a single. |
| 60.2 : Pat Cummins to Ben Stokes, Fuller on middle, Stokes strokes it to mid on. |
| 60.3 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Length ball on off, Ben gets on his back foot and blocks it. |
| 60.4 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Full outside off, Ben swings his bat at it, going for the big one but misses. |
| 60.5 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Length ball around off, Stokes strokes it towards point for one. |
| 60.6 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Full on off, Bairstow drives it straight. Cummins gets his big boot on the way of the ball and it deflects it to mid on. Stokes at the non striker's end ends up falling as he anticipated the ball to come towards him. Ben provides us with some Matrix-esque dodge. |
| 61.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flat and full on off, pushed back to Lyon. |
| 61.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Floated on middle, pushed towards mid on. |
| 61.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, This time on the pads, Stokes flicks it towards square leg and takes a single. |
| 61.4 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Defended off the back foot towards mid-wicket. |
| 61.5 : N Lyon to Bairstow, On the leg side, Bairstow glances it towards fine leg and takes a single. |
| 61.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, On the pads again, blocked towards mid-wicket. |
| 62.1 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Length ball on middle and leg, JB pushes it towards mid on off the back foot. |
| 62.2 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, This time on the off side similar length, Jonny pushes it towards the cover fielder. |
| 62.3 : Pat Cummins to J Bairstow, Length ball on the fifth stump line, pushed towards the cover fielder again. |
| 62.4 : Pat Cummins to Bairstow, Superb pull shot by Bairstow here. Cummins goes short this time outside off, JB pulls it strongly towards mid-wicket but straight to the man. Single taken. |
| 62.5 : Pat Cummins to Stokes, Good length on middle and off, tucked towards mid-wicket for one. |
| 62.6 : Pat Cummins to J Bairstow, Again on a length, blocked towards the cover fielder. |
| 63.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Flat and on the off pole, Stokes defends it towards cover off the back foot. |
| 63.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Short and wide this time, cut to the point fielder. |
| 63.3 : N Lyon to Ben Stokes, Full and floated this time, Stokes goes for the drive but gets a thick outside edge. The ball goes through gully towards third man for a couple. |
| 63.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, The batsman rocks onto the back foot and punches the ball. |
| 63.5 : N Lyon to Stokes, SIX! Brilliant shot! Full, floated on off, Stokes gets down on one knee and slog sweeps it over the mid-wicket fence. |
| 63.6 : N Lyon to Stokes, SIX! Action replay! Again full and floated outside off, Stokes reproducing his brilliant best of the World Cup and again smashes this over mid-wicket for a biggie. |
| Peter Siddle is back. |
| 64.1 : P Siddle to Bairstow, On a length just outside off, JB defends it off the back foot. |
| 64.2 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Edged but safe! Full ball this time on the off pole, he looks to flick it towards mid-wicket but gets a leading edge. The ball floats towards covers but falls short of the fielder. |
| 64.3 : P Siddle to Bairstow, This time JB times it properly and takes a single off this one as he plays it towards mid-wicket. |
| 64.4 : P Siddle to Stokes, FOUR! Great shot through extra cover. Full ball outside off, Stokes gets into his stride and plays this one through extra cover for a boundary. |
| 64.5 : P Siddle to Stokes, This time driven towards mid off, Khawaja dives towards his right and saves at least a run. Good fielding by him. |
| 64.6 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Good running! Guided down to fine leg by the batsman. They manage to come back for the second. |
| Josh Hazlewood is back! |
| 65.1 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Stokes has attempted to put bat on ball but fails. |
| 65.2 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Again goes for the shot to this ball outside off but misses. |
| 65.3 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Ouch! That must have surely hurt. It is pitched on a length just outside off, the ball nips back in after pitching. Stokes goes for the drive straight down the ground but misses and is hit on the box. Stokes gets back up again quickly. Tough man! |
| 65.4 : J Hazlewood to Ben Stokes, The ball has taken the inside edge of the bat of Stokes and goes down the leg side. The batters manage to come back for the second. 50-run stand comes up between the two in very quick time here. |
| 65.5 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Length ball just outside off, defended by Stokes towards covers. |
| 65.6 : J Hazlewood to Ben Stokes, FOUR! Short and wide outside off, Stokes gets on the back foot and cuts it towards covers for a boundary. |
| 66.1 : P Siddle to J Bairstow, Length ball on middle and off, Bairstow tries to defend at it but gets an inside edge onto the pad. |
| 66.2 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Bairstow has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 66.3 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Fuller this time, Bairstow pushes it towards mid-wicket. |
| 66.4 : P Siddle to Bairstow, FOUR! Educational edge one must say. Good length ball on off, Bairstow goes back and opens the face of his bat to guide it towards third man. However, he gets a fine edge on it and the ball goes between the slip cordon and gully for a boundary towards third man. |
| 66.5 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Bairstow pushes this fuller ball towards cover and rotates strike. |
| 66.6 : P Siddle to Stokes, FOUR LEG BYES! Down the leg side this time by Siddle, he looks to flick and misses. The ball goes through Paine as he fails to collect it and gives away four byes. |
| 67.1 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, The batsman drives this through the covers. |
| 67.2 : J Hazlewood to J Bairstow, Full and on off, JB pushes it towards covers and takes a single. |
| 67.3 : J Hazlewood to Ben Stokes, Shorter one this time and pulled away by Stokes towards mid-wicket. The batters take two runs. |
| 67.4 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, FOUR! Short-arm jab by Stokes and he moves to 97 with that. On the pads was this one, Stokes goes onto the back foot and flicks it towards backward square leg for a boundary. |
| 67.5 : J Hazlewood to Stokes, Outside off length ball, Stokes guides this towards third man and takes a single as he inches closer to his ton. |
| 67.6 : J Hazlewood to Bairstow, Defended off the front foot by JB presenting the full face of the bat. |
| 68.1 : P Siddle to Ben Stokes, Moves to 99, Stokes! He pushes this one towards covers and takes one. |
| 68.2 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Quick double this time. Stokes has to wait. JB plays it towards point and takes off quickly, he completes the first one and then also takes the second one quickly as well. Tricky but will do. |
| 68.3 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Down the leg side, JB leaves it alone. |
| 68.4 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Bairstow plays that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 68.5 : P Siddle to Bairstow, Length ball just on off, Bairstow tries to defend it but the ball takes an inside edge and then onto the pads. |
| 68.6 : P Siddle to J Bairstow, Good shot but no runs. Stokes on strike is all that matters. Full and outside off, JB drives it towards the cover fielder. |
| Nathan Lyon is back for another over. This might be the last over before the declaration comes in. |
| 69.1 : N Lyon to Stokes, Floated and on off, Stokes blocks this one out. |
| 69.2 : N Lyon to Stokes, Full down the leg side, Stokes goes for the reverse sweep but misses. |
| 69.3 : N Lyon to Stokes, Shorter this time, Stokes blocks this one out. Stokes making the world wait. |
| 69.4 : N Lyon to Stokes, There it is! Stokes completes his ton and is soaking in the applause from the crowd. This is on the leg side and Stokes just helps it down to fine leg and takes a single. Plays another superb innings at the home of cricket, taking England to a comfortable lead. 7th ton in Tests for Stokes and the second and Lord's. |
| 69.5 : N Lyon to Bairstow, Defended off the front foot by Bairstow, presenting the full face of the bat. |
| 69.6 : N Lyon to Bairstow, SIX! Bairstow going big now! Floated on middle and off, Bairstow takes his foot out of the way and slams it over mid-wicket for a biggie. Also with this six, Lyon has conceded over 100 runs in this innings itself without taking a wicket. |
| 70.1 : Siddle to Stokes, FOUR! Don't know when the declaration is coming but Stokes is adding more to England's bucket. Low full toss on middle and leg, Stokes clears his front foot and smashes it straight down the ground through mid off for a boundary. |
| 70.2 : P Siddle to Stokes, SIX! Hello, forget the whites, Stokes is making it look like T20. Fuller on middle, Stokes clears his front foot and heaves it over the square leg fence for a biggie. |
| 70.3 : P Siddle to Stokes, Very well fielded. Good length ball on off, Stokes pulls it wide of square leg. Wade in the deep runs to his left to clean it up. He gets wrong-footed as the ball spins in. Matthew Wade does really well to save it from going to the fence. |
| 70.4 : P Siddle to Stokes, Length ball outside off, Stokes punches it through covers for a couple. |
| 70.5 : P Siddle to Stokes, Short ball, Stokes pulls it towards square leg and gets just a single. |
| 70.6 : P Siddle to J Bairstow, Good length ball on off, Jonny looks to drive it on the up to the off side but gets an inside edge which takes the ball to the on side and gets a single. 16 runs off the over and there is the declaration from Joe Root. |
| So England declare with 50 overs remaining in the day. Remove another 2 overs for the changeover of the innings. Which means Australia have been given a target of 267 in 48 overs. Next to impossible. But can England pick up 10 wickets inside 48 overs? Very much a possibility. A longggg but exciting passage of play awaits us. |
| How the absence of one man can affect an entire team. Till yesterday evening, this English unit was thinking how to survive, how much target do they need to set for Australia with Smith and Warner in their unit, etc... etc... This morning, the very news of Smith being ruled out seems to have oozed in tons of confidence. The approach was positive and after Lunch, Stokes went berserk. The hosts were in a spot of bother at 71/4 but the big Ben played an innings of substance. Yes, he gave 2 catches |
| The 90-run stand between Stokes and Buttler this morning literally killed Australia's hopes of going 2-0 up in this series. The visitors themselves looked deflated since morning and that news of Smith has already pegged them on the back foot. None of the bowlers were effective or impressive and Nathan Lyon endured a torrid third innings with the ball. |
| Coming to the Aussie batsmen, how do they play this? Do they have the mental strength to see off the England bowlers? A score of 150/3 or 4 would look like a better reading but losing 10 wickets or more than 6 would really send a strong negative signal to the English team which will read - 'We are nothing without Smith.' An hour left to Tea. First aim to play this hour without losing any wicket. Stay tuned to check what happens. |
| 0.1 : S Broad to Bancroft, Off the mark straightaway! On the pads of Bancroft, he flicks it towards backward square leg and takes a run. First run of the fourth innings. |
| 0.2 : S Broad to D Warner, FOUR! Beauty! Full and outside off, Warner just leans into his drive and gracefully pushes it through the covers for a boundry. Warner also off the mark with this. |
| 0.3 : S Broad to Warner, What a jaffa! Broad brings this one in with the angle, the ball pitches on middle and on a length. It pitches and nips away leaving Warner completely dazed. |
| 0.4 : S Broad to Warner, This time safely defended off the front foot by Warner. |
| 0.5 : S Broad to Warner, Wide outside off, Warner shoulders arms to it. |
| 0.6 : S Broad to D Warner, Again angling in towards the southpaw, this time Warner gets an inside edge on this one and the ball rolls towards mid-wicket. |
| Speedster, Jofra Archer to bowl from the other end. |
| 1.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Smooth run up and length delivery outside off, Bancroft lets it through. |
| 1.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bancroft survives! Length ball on off, swings a tad bit inside, Bancroft goes for the push but gets an inside edge on it and the ball hits his thigh pad. Cameron is a lucky man that he the ball does not go onto chop the stumps. |
| 1.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, No ball! Archer oversteps this time. Outside off, CB lets it through. |
| J Archer to Bancroft, Squared up completely! Jofra bowls this on a length outside off, it pitches and nips away. CB plays inside the line of the delivery and does not edge it. |
| 1.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bancroft has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 1.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, Outside off, the batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 1.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, Fuller this time, Cb defends this one off the front foot back to the bowler. |
| 2.1 : S Broad to Warner, FOUR LEG BYES! Down the leg side, Warner looks to flick this one but misses to get hit on the pads. It flicks his pads and goes towards the fine leg boundary. |
| 2.2 : S Broad to Warner, Wide outside off, Warner shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 2.3 : S Broad to Warner, Length ball on middle and off, Warner blocks this one out. |
| 2.4 : S Broad to Warner, Warner has a wild slash at this wide and short ball but misses it completely. |
| 2.5 : S Broad to Warner, On the pads of Warner, he flicks it towards backward square leg and takes a single. The fielder has a shy at the keeper's end but misses. However, the batter was well in and it wouldn't have made any difference. |
| 2.6 : S Broad to Bancroft, Again full and on the pads, Bancroft pushes this one towards mid-wicket and takes a single. |
| 3.1 : J Archer to C Bancroft, Edged but falls short! Bancroft goes to push this one towards the off side but gets a thick outside edge on it. The ball falls just short of the slip cordon. |
| 3.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Played through mid-wicket by Bancroft. They take a single. |
| 3.3 : J Archer to D Warner, OUT! CAUGHT! Warner is out and Australia are one down as Jofra takes the first one. He pitches this one on middle and off on a length, the ball pitches and moves away from Warner. He goes with hard hands at it and gets a thick edge at it which carries to gully where Rory Burns was stationed and he takes it cleanly. Australia again lose Warner cheaply. The potential match-winner for them departs. |
| Usman Khawaja walks out at number 3. |
| 3.4 : J Archer to Khawaja, Hostile welcome for Usman Khawaja. Archer has his tails up and there is no doubt about it. He steams in and bowls a pacy bouncer around off. Khawaja takes his eyes off the ball but it goes away to the keeper. |
| 3.5 : J Archer to Khawaja, Now full on the pads, Usman flicks it but straight to mid-wicket. |
| 3.6 : J Archer to Khawaja, Archer now comes steaming in and bowls a good length ball on off, Khawaja looks to defend but the ball hits him high on his bat and goes to point. |
| 4.1 : S Broad to Bancroft, Length delivery on middle and off, Bancroft blocks it out. |
| 4.2 : S Broad to Bancroft, Good length ball on off, pushes this one towards mid off. |
| 4.3 : S Broad to Bancroft, Full and wide outside off, Broad lures Bancroft into the cover drive. He goes for it but misses the ball completely. Australia might be panicking here. |
| 4.4 : S Broad to Bancroft, CB chooses to leave the ball outside his off stump. |
| 4.5 : S Broad to C Bancroft, Length ball just outside off, Bancroft tries to defend and gets a faint outside edge on it. It carries to first slip on a bounce. |
| 4.6 : S Broad to Bancroft, FOUR! On the pads of Bancroft and he just flicks it away towards mid-wicket nonchalantly for a boundary. |
| 5.1 : J Archer to Khawaja, Jofra bowls this one just outside off, Khawaja goes for the defense but it is squared up. |
| 5.2 : J Archer to Khawaja, Full on middle and off, Khawaja punches it down the ground towards long off and takes a couple. |
| 5.3 : J Archer to Khawaja, OUT! Jofra takes his second and he is on fire here! Bowls this one on a length on the leg pole, the ball pitches and just drifts away from the southpaw. Khawaja looks to defend it but gets the faintest of outside edges on it. It carries to his skipper behind the stumps and he completes the formalities. Now, Jofra barely appeals but someone does and umpire Aleem Dar raises his finger immediately. England are all smiles but Uzzie looks bemused. He is standing there, aski |
| Marnus Labuschagne is the new man in. He was not in the actual playing XI but has come into the side as a concussion substitute for Steve Smith, who has been the best batsman in this series. Big shoes to fill for Labuschagne. |
| 5.4 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Wide! Bouncer but way over the head of Labuschagne. Welcomed to the crease by Archer well. |
| J Archer to Labuschagne, Ouch! Again on the helmet and this time it is Marnus. Jofra hits the deck hard and the ball shoots up off the surface. It rapidly rises on Marnus and fails to duck in time. He is hit flush on his helmet and falls down after it. |
| Concussion test for the one who is substituting for the concussed? This is something new. Labuschagne is giving a thumbs up, showing that he is okay but the physio is out in the middle. A new helmet comes out for Marnus. Boy, are Australia already looking for the overs remaining in the day? All ready to go now. |
| 5.5 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Beaten! Jofra follows the short ball up with a length ball outside off, Labuschagne goes for the defense but is squared up. Oohs and Aahs all around the ground. |
| 5.6 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Again squared up by Archer! The batsman was beaten and missed the line of the delivery. |
| 6.1 : S Broad to C Bancroft, Fuller around off, Bancroft gets on his front foot and drives it crisply through covers for a couple. |
| 6.2 : S Broad to Bancroft, Uppish but safe. Good length ball on top of middle and leg, Bancroft shuffles across and glances it uppishly towards the square leg region for a couple. |
| 6.3 : S Broad to Labuschagne, Full with very little movement on this one outside off, Labuschagne leaves it alone. |
| 6.4 : S Broad to Labuschagne, Very good take from Bairstow. Broad strays his line and bowls one down the leg side, Marnus looks to flick but misses. The ball keeps going down, Bairstow dives to his left and stretches to save a certain 4 leg byes. |
| 6.5 : S Broad to Labuschagne, Length ball on middle, Labushagne flicks it towards square leg and gets off the mark. |
| 6.6 : S Broad to Bancroft, UPPISH AND JUST WIDE FOR FOUR! Stokes just moved fro, his original position. They keep a leg gully in place as Bancroft is playing a lot of uppish flicks. It is on middle, Cameron flicks it wide, just inches away from the diving Ben Stokes. Had Ben stayed in his original position, Bancroft was a goner. |
| 7.1 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Good length ball on off, Labuschagne looks to defend but misses. |
| 7.2 : J Archer to Labuschagne, FOUR! This should give give Marnus Labuschagne some much-needed confident. Fuller on off, Labuschagne gets on his front foot and drives it through mid off for a boundary. |
| 7.3 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Outside off and pacy, Marnus looks to defend but the ball fizzes past him. |
| 7.4 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Excellent bowling. Archer steams in and once again bends his back on this one. The way he has bowled short balls has been impressive. This one is also right in the money, close to the body. Marnus does really well to sway away from it. |
| 7.5 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Another beauty! Good length ball outside off, it zips away. Labuschagne looks to defend but once again gets squared up. |
| 7.6 : J Archer to Labuschagne, EDGED AND FOUR! Archer once again hits the deck hard on off, Labuschagne looks to defend but the ball takes the outside edge and goes through the vacant gully region for a boundary. End of another entertaining and scary Jofra over. |
| 8.1 : S Broad to Bancroft, Length ball just outside off, CB gets the outside half of his bat and the ball goes straight to the point fielder. |
| 8.2 : S Broad to Bancroft, Again on middle and leg, pushed towards mid on. |
| 8.3 : S Broad to Bancroft, Close again but just over short leg. Broad pitches this one outside off and gets it to nip back in off the surface. Bancroft looks to block it out and the ball gets an inside edge on it and then goes onto hit the thigh pad. It lobs over short leg and the ball goes towards square leg as they take a couple. |
| 8.4 : S Broad to Bancroft, The batsman chooses to leave the ball outside his off stump. |
| 8.5 : S Broad to Bancroft, Outside off again, CB shoulders arms to this one too. |
| 8.6 : S Broad to Bancroft, Fuller this time on off pole, pushed towards mid on. |
| Chris Woakes is into the attack for the hosts. He replaces Archer who was doing very well and also took both the wickets of this innings. |
| 9.1 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, Awkward leave by Marnus here, the ball pitches just outside off and comes in. Labuschagne hops away and lets it go. |
| 9.2 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 9.3 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, Outside off, Marnus lets it through again. |
| 9.4 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, Length ball on middle and off, Labuschagne blocks it out. |
| 9.5 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, FOUR! Full on off and middle, Marnus gets onto the back foot and flicks it nonchalantly towards the mid-wicket fence. |
| 9.6 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, Lets the last ball through to the keeper. Good batting here by Marnus. |
| Change of ends for Jofra Archer. |
| 10.1 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bancroft gets squared up again similarly. Length ball outside off, it pitches and nips away. He tries to defend but does so inside the line and misses the ball. |
| 10.2 : J Archer to Bancroft, Hit on the stomach. Length ball on middle and off, the ball this time comes back in and CB wasn't expecting it. He shoulders arms but the ball comes in and hits him on the stomach. |
| 10.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bancroft has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 10.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, Length ball on middle and off, Bancroft blocks it out off the back foot. |
| 10.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bouncer! Bancroft ducks and lets that one through to JB. |
| 10.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, Another shorter one, again Bancroft ducks and evades this delivery. |
| Spinner on now. Jack Leach is into the attack. Feel it is to get one over done quickly so that Jofra can have one more burst before Tea. |
| 11.1 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Short and just on the off pole, pushed to the cover fielder. |
| 11.2 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Flat and on middle, blocked out off the back foot by Marnus. |
| 11.3 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Floated and full on middle, Marnus blocks it out. |
| 11.4 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Full and floated this one, pitches on the rough and bounces way higher than expected. Marnus looks to flick it towards the leg side but misses. |
| 11.5 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Floated full and on off, ML blocks it out. |
| 11.6 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Tossed up around middle and off, Leach sweeps it towards square leg and takes one. |
| 12.1 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Hit on the hand very hard. Archer is consistently bowling dangerous line and lengths and troubling the visitors. This was on a length just outside off, Marnus looks to block at it but gets hit on the glove and he writhes in pain. |
| 12.2 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Length ball just outside off, ML guides it down to third man and they take three. |
| 12.3 : J Archer to Bancroft, Bancroft shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the backfoot. |
| 12.4 : J Archer to Bancroft, On a length, going down leg, Bancroft tries to flick this one but misses and gets hit on the thigh pad. It lobs up and Stokes at leg gully catches it. England appeal mildly thinking some bat might be involved but nothing doing for the umpire. |
| 12.5 : J Archer to Bancroft, The batsman picked that bouncer early and let it through to the keeper. |
| 12.6 : J Archer to Bancroft, Defended off the back foot by Bancroft. TEA ON DAY 5! England need 8 more wickets to win. |
| Whoa, this Test is alive and kicking! 35 overs left and 8 wickets needed. Any doubts whether England can win this or not? Lot to do with the fiery Archer. Scary Archer. Pumped up Archer. We are going to have a frenetic final session for sure. |
| There were doubts whether Joe Root declared a bit too late to give his bowlers enough time to bowl Australia out. Turns out that he is in a good shape to scare the visitors out of their wits and also level the series with the kind of bowling which has been exhibited in the 13 overs bowled. |
| Of course, England's bowling is not all about Jofra, is it? Broad and Woakes are terrific in their own right, while Jack Leach, in the solitary over that he bowled before the break, got some cobras to spit around. Australia will have their hands full. |
| Coming to the visitors' batting, this phase reminds us of the 70s and 80s when West Indian bowlers used to terrorize the opposition batsmen. Australia need to find a way not only to survive but do so with dignity. Even if they do not get all out, losing more than 6 wickets would send a negative message and that is something they would want to avoid. Want to. But can they? Join us back at 5 pm local (1600 GMT) for the final stages of this riveting match. |
| ... Day 5, Session 3 ... |
| The English players are out in the field. Labuschagne and Bancroft walk to the middle now. Leach to start the proceedings for England. Labuschagne to face first up. |
| 13.1 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Good length ball on middle and leg, Marnus pads it away. |
| 13.2 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Leach is aiming the rough as he pitches another on the same line as last ball, this time the batter works towards square leg to get the first run of the session. |
| 13.3 : J Leach to Bancroft, Fuller on middle to Bancroft, he tucks it towards the leg side to get a run. |
| 13.4 : J Leach to Bancroft, Good length ball on off, Bancroft pushes this towards cover. |
| 13.5 : J Leach to Bancroft, Another fullish length on off, Bancroft blocks it coming forward. |
| 13.6 : Leach to Bancroft, OUT! LBW! That kept low. Never, never, never, play on the back foot to a spinner on the final day of a Test. You never know when goes below. Bancroft will know now. Fullish ball on middle and leg from Leach, Cameron stays back to defend but misses. The ball stays low and hits him in front of the stumps. England appeal along with Leach and Aleem Dar has no hesitation in raising the finger. No way is that going to be reviewed. Absolutely plumb. A wicket in the first over f |
| Travis Head is the next man for Australia. They are looking in a spot of bother here. Jofra Archer to continue from the other end for England. |
| 14.1 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Full and outside off, watchfully pushed towards the bowler. |
| 14.2 : J Archer to Labuschagne, A bouncer outside off, Labuschagne drops his wrists and allows the ball to go through past his face. |
| 14.3 : J Archer to M Labuschagne, Fullish ball outside off, Marnus leans forward to drive it through covers and take a couple. Woakes chases the ball and returns to the keeper. |
| 14.4 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Good bouncer again. That came in from off. Marnus does well it to sway it away. |
| 14.5 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Around off, Labuschagne looks to tuck it to the leg side but misses and wears it on his thigh pads. |
| 14.6 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Good length ball on off, Marnus blocks it off the outer half of the bat. |
| 15.1 : J Leach to Head, Full and outside off, Head looks to sweep but misses. The ball stays low and Bairstow does well to collect. |
| 15.2 : J Leach to Head, Down the leg side, tucked towards leg slip. |
| 15.3 : J Leach to Head, Around off, spinning in, defended back to the bowler. |
| 15.4 : J Leach to Head, FOUR BYES! What was Travis doing there? His head is all over the place. Full and outside off, Head looks to sweep but at the last moment, he realizes that it is too full to be played. He looks to then guide it towards point but misses. The ball spins in, beats the bat and the keeper and races to the fence behind. 50 UP FOR AUSTRALIA. Runs do not matter. 194 balls left to negotiate. |
| 15.5 : J Leach to Head, Oohhh... outside off, stays low, TH stays back to defend and gets a bit of the outer half of the bat towards point. |
| 15.6 : J Leach to Head, Again. This time played a bit better, off the face of the bat, towards backward point. |
| 16.1 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Good length ball on off and middle, ML taps it nicely off his back foot. |
| 16.2 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Beaten this time! Good length ball outside off, in the channel for Marnus. He fends at it but the ball shapes a tad bit away to go past the batsman. |
| 16.3 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Shortish one outside off, Marnus lets that go. |
| 16.4 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Another bumper attempted but the line is outside off and Labuschagne is not interested. The ball shapes further away as Paine collects it close to the first slip. |
| 16.5 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Good length on off, ML blocks it awkwardly towards point. |
| 16.6 : J Archer to Labuschagne, FOUR OVERTHROWS! Shortish length on off from Archer, coming into the batsman who looks to work it towards the leg side but he is hit in the stomach and the ball rolls towards the slip cordon. The fielder there, Burns has a shy at the non striker's end but misses. Also no chance for the fielder to stop that one as it races towards long on boundary. |
| 17.1 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Full and outside leg, Labuschagne looks to defend but the ball spins in, takes the inside edge and goes past short leg towards square leg. 179 balls left. |
| 17.2 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Lunges to this one and blocks it in front of short leg. |
| 17.3 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Pitched outside leg, on a fuller length, lands on the rough, spinning away, Marnus looks to defend but gets a thick outside edge which lands in front of second slip. |
| 17.4 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Down the leg side, tucked towards fine leg. |
| 17.5 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Full and around off, pushed towards long on for a single. |
| 17.6 : J Leach to Head, Landed outside off, Head gets a good stride forward and defends. |
| 18.1 : J Archer to Labuschagne, On a length around off, Labuschagne defends it solidly towards mid-wicket. |
| 18.2 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Good length ball on middle and leg, Marnus stands tall to tap this onto the pitch. |
| 18.3 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Another one on good length on middle, this nips back in slightly to the right-hander and raises a bit as well. The batsman looks to tap it towards leg side but short leg fielder does well to stop it. |
| 18.4 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Fullish length on middle this time, Marnus flicks it nicely towards mid-wicket to get three. The deep square leg fielder hares at the ball to stop it. |
| 18.5 : J Archer to Head, Short one outside off this time, Head lets it go to the keeper. |
| 18.6 : J Archer to Head, Shortish ball on off and middle, this also came in to the left hander who pushed towards the side awkwardly. |
| 19.1 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Looks for a fuller ball dishes out a full toss on middle, Marnus blocks it back to the bowler. |
| 19.2 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Another fuller on but Marnus leans into the shot to push it towards cover. |
| 19.3 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Good length outside off, ML dabs the ball easily. |
| 19.4 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Shortish one on off, Marnus times it well towards cover but finds fielder. |
| 19.5 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Full one outside off, Marnus blocks it by coming forward. |
| 19.6 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Good length ball on middle, Labuschagne works it towards mid-wicket for a run. |
| 20.1 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Shortish ball on fourth stump line, Marnus looks to slice this over the slop cordon but misses to get the bat. A risky attempt that. |
| 20.2 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Archer bangs this one from round the wicket looking to hit the ribs of the right-hander. The batter works it well off his back foot to take a run. |
| 20.3 : J Archer to Head, FOUR! Good length ball on middle and leg. Too easy for Head as he flicks this nicely to get off the mark. |
| 20.4 : J Archer to Head, Good length on middle and leg from Archer this time. It came in to Head who looks to work it towards leg side but he hits the outer half of the bat and goes to point. |
| 20.5 : J Archer to Head, Shortish one this time, Head works it off his back foot. |
| 20.6 : J Archer to Head, Appeal from England but hardly anything from Jofra. Fullish ball on middle and leg to Head who looks to flick but is hit on the pads. The ball goes towards fine leg and the batters take a run. That looked going down and that's why no enthusiasm from Archer. |
| 21.1 : J Leach to Head, Full and outside off, pushed past silly point towards cover. |
| 21.2 : J Leach to Head, FOUR! MAJESTIC! Leach should not mind that. Tossed up outside off, just in front of the rough, Head leans and drives it through the covers. |
| 21.3 : J Leach to Head, Landed closer to the rough outside off, Travis lunges and dead-bats it. 159 balls left. |
| 21.4 : J Leach to T Head, Full again, outside off, Head looks to drive but mistimes it towards mid off. |
| 21.5 : J Leach to Head, Gets well outside the line of off and looks to sweep but misses and is hit on the pads. |
| 21.6 : J Leach to Head, Oohhh... that was almost similar to the grubber which got Bancroft. Head smiles. |
| Broad time as Archer gets some rest. One guesses it will be a while before Jofra returns. Root is lucky that he can throw the ball to a person who can give you wickets at this time of the day. Who better than Broad to finish this Aussie batting off? Michael Atherton reckons that it is 7 times that Broad has taken a 5-fer in a single spell. Yes. Single spell. 60 all out fresh in memory? An 8th 5-fer might do well here. |
| 22.1 : S Broad to Labuschagne, Good length outside off to start with, Labuschagne lets this go to the keeper. |
| 22.2 : S Broad to Labuschagne, A length ball outside off, Marnus shoulders arms. |
| 22.3 : S Broad to Labuschagne, Full and outside off, flicked straight to mid-wicket. |
| 22.4 : S Broad to M Labuschagne, FOUR! MARVELLOUS! Overpitched wide outside off, Labuschagne leans and drives it through cover-point! |
| 22.5 : S Broad to Labuschagne, Outside off, let through to Bairstow. |
| 22.6 : S Broad to Labuschagne, A length ball, around off, tucked towards short mid-wicket. |
| Change from both the ends as Woakes is on. Also, lights are on. There is some rain coming in from the south-west. Hopefully, it misses us. |
| 23.1 : C Woakes to Head, Shortish ball to start with but the line is not right. Goes down the leg side as Head misses his flick. |
| 23.2 : C Woakes to Head, Shortish one on middle and leg this time, Head works it towards the leg side off his back foot. |
| 23.3 : C Woakes to Head, Good length outside off on the fourth stump line, Head looked to leave that one but was late in doing so as ball took the outside edge and went towards Jason Roy in the slip cordon who couldn't stop it cleanly and the batters change ends. Award shot that. |
| 23.4 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, Shortish on middle and leg from Broad, Marnus blunts it nicely towards the leg side off his back foot. |
| 23.5 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, Full on middle this time as Labuschagne flicks it towards mid-wicket to take a run. |
| 23.6 : C Woakes to Head, Shortish one outside off this time, Head gets behind the line of the ball to tap it towards cover and take a run. |
| 24.1 : S Broad to Head, Fullish length close to the off pole, Head blocks it towards cover. |
| 24.2 : S Broad to Head, This time goes fuller on middle, Head works it straight to the fielder on the leg side. |
| 24.3 : S Broad to Head, Good length ball on middle and off, Head comes forward and blunts this towards the leg side. |
| 24.4 : S Broad to Head, FOUR! Poor ball! Dishes a fuller ball on the pads of Head this time. Head places it fine down the leg side to get his third boundary. |
| 24.5 : S Broad to Head, Good length ball outside off, Head times it sweetly but finds the cover fielder. |
| Is this the first time in this whole match? England are trying desperately to get the ball changed. Chris Woakes shows it to umpire Chris Gaffaney who passes it through the 8-shaped gauge and then tosses it back to the bowler. Woakes smiles. At Edgbaston, both teams were aiming to change the ball frequently. But unsuccessfully. |
| 24.6 : S Broad to Head, Shortish one on off and middle, Head blocks it onto the pitch. |
| Root reviews one! May not be a bad call. Labuschagne has been hit in front but has been adjudged not out. Woakes feels it might be a bit high. Here comes Ball Tracker. Impact is outside off. Review lost by England but they may not mind it too much. |
| 25.1 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, NOT OUT. Impact is outside. Good length ball on off, went slightly away from the right-hander Marnus' push towards leg side to hit him on the pads. That looked a bit high to naked but Root signals for a review very quickly. However, Woakes suggests him that it was probably high. No consultation there from the bowler it seemed. Ball Tracker confirms the impact was outside off. |
| 25.2 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, This one stays low! A length ball outside off, Marnus looks to defend but gets squared up as the ball shoots low. Very lucky that the bat came down just in time to sneak an outside edge. Off it went along the ground to second slip. |
| 25.3 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, Walks across his stumps, exposing his leg stump and shoulders arms. That is the first time ML has done that. Perhaps Woakes can gamble by going down the leg side. |
| 25.4 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, Outside off, solidly defended towards cover. |
| 25.5 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, FOUR! Neatly done. Full and outside off, Labuschagne steers this behind point for a boundary! |
| 25.6 : C Woakes to Labuschagne, Defended off the back foot by the batsman. |
| Ben Stokes to bowl now. 22 overs left in the day. |
| 26.1 : Ben Stokes to Head, FOUR! Short and outside off, Head punches this through cover-point and gets a boundary! |
| 26.2 : Ben Stokes to Head, Around off, blocked solidly. |
| 26.3 : Ben Stokes to Head, Outside off, left alone. 129 balls left. |
| A bit of a delay. Stokes is switching angle and coming from around the wicket. Head is waiting for the sightscreen to get moved. Also, a window is open somewhere and he has that closed. |
| 26.4 : Ben Stokes to Head, Short and outside off, cut straight to point. |
| 26.5 : Ben Stokes to Head, Ohhh... gone. Plumb LBW. But... for the inside edge. Full and straight, Head looks to flick but misses and is hit on the pads. Stokes starts to appeal but then bails out on hearing the sound of wood. |
| 26.6 : Ben Stokes to Head, FOUR! Outside off, Head reaches out and looks to drive but gets a bit of an outside edge which squirts away behind point. |
| Spin again! Leach will look to use the rough. |
| 27.1 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Starts with a fuller on middle, Marnus pushes it towards mid on. |
| 27.2 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Shortish one on middle, Marnus goes back and looks to cut but finds the fielder. |
| 27.3 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Beaten! Good delivery that. Went slightly away from Marnus as he looked to push it towards off side but is beaten. |
| 27.4 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Good length on off, Marnus blocks it onto the pitch. |
| 27.5 : J Leach to M Labuschagne, Good length ball outside off, ML pushes it towards the cover region where the fielder dives to stop the ball. |
| 27.6 : J Leach to Labuschagne, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 28.1 : Ben Stokes to T Head, EDGED, DROPPED! Well, Australia put down a few while bowling, now it is England's turn. Full and outside off, Head looks to drive but gets a thick, fat outside edge. Straight into the bread basket of Jason Roy at second slip who puts it down! He seems to indicate that he could not quite sight the ball. |
| 28.2 : Ben Stokes to Head, The batsman defends it from within the crease. |
| 28.3 : Ben Stokes to Head, FOUR! A misfield now. 'Can't catch, can't field,' quips Michael Holding on air. Full and outside off, Head leans and drives it towards point. Joe Denly gets across from backward point and slides but the ball goes through. |
| 28.4 : Ben Stokes to Head, The batsman was beaten and missed the line of the delivery. |
| 28.5 : Ben Stokes to Head, FOUR! Much better. Full and outside off, Head leans and drives it through the covers. |
| 28.6 : Ben Stokes to Head, Oopsss... a high full toss, around leg, Travis spots it late and flicks it towards short mid-wicket. |
| 29.1 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Works this through mid-wicket for a couple. |
| 29.2 : J Leach to Labuschagne, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 29.3 : J Leach to Labuschagne, FOUR! Full and around middle, Labuschagne gets down and sweeps it through mid-wicket! Root now moves a man to deep mid-wicket for that slog sweep. |
| 29.4 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Pitched outside leg, Marnus looks to defend but the ball rips past the outside edge! |
| 29.5 : J Leach to Labuschagne, LBW appeal, turned down. Pitched outside leg. ML looked to sweep but missed and was hit on the pads. |
| 29.6 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Another sweep shot attempted, again a miss, this time there is no appeal. |
| 30.1 : Ben Stokes to Head, Good length outside off, Head lets it go to the keeper. |
| 30.2 : Ben Stokes to Head, Fifth stump line outside off, Head covers his stumps and lets it go. |
| 30.3 : Ben Stokes to Head, Fullish one on middle this time, Head pushes it towards mid off. |
| 30.4 : Ben Stokes to Head, Fullish ball on middle and leg, Head works it towards the leg side nicely. |
| 30.5 : Ben Stokes to Head, Bumper outside off this time, no way Head is going to do anything on that. |
| 30.6 : Ben Stokes to Head, Fuller outside off, Head leans to drive this straight to cover. Maiden over from Stokes but Head was confident too in this over. |
| 31.1 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Middle on leg this time on a fullish length, Marnus pushes this towards the leg side. |
| 31.2 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Good length one on middle, ML works it towards the leg side to take a run. |
| 31.3 : J Leach to Head, Fuller ball on off and middle, Head taps it towards gully. |
| 31.4 : J Leach to Head, Good length ball on middle and leg, Head blocks it off his back foot. |
| 31.5 : J Leach to Head, That kept low! Fuller one on middle from Leach. Head is watching the ball well as he blocks it. |
| 31.6 : J Leach to Head, That's hit the batsman on his pads. |
| Joe Root brings himself on. After this over, he has a decision to make. Either shake hands with the batsmen and call this game off. Or take the final hour and bowl the remaining 15 overs, whichever comes later. |
| 32.1 : Joe Root to Labuschagne, Short and outside off, Labuschagne pushes this through point. The ball runs away and Jack Leach runs behind it in circles. Fumbles but manages to recover the ball before it touches the ropes. Three runs taken. |
| 32.2 : Joe Root to Head, FOUR! Short and outside off. Easy pickings. Cut through the covers. |
| 32.3 : Joe Root to Head, The batsman has punched the ball off the back foot. |
| 32.4 : Joe Root to Head, Outside off, left alone. |
| 32.5 : Joe Root to Head, Full and around off, watchfully blocked out. |
| 32.6 : Joe Root to Head, Around off, blocked back to the bowler. |
| DRINKS BREAK. So Root is indeed taking the final hour. England have thrown everything that they had at Australia but Labuschagne and Head have played superbly. Guess Joe wants to give Jofra one final spell. If the hosts manage to pick up a wicket or two quickly, victory might still be in their grasp. The conditions have become bright and sunny, so if Joe Root wants to bowl all the 15 overs, he might be able to do it. |
| 33.1 : J Leach to Labuschagne, FOUR! Good sweep shot! Looking for the rough around the leg side, Leach dishes a full toss on the legs of Marnus who sweeps it well through square leg to get another boundary. One away from his half-century. |
| 33.2 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Fullish one on middle, blocks it well. |
| 33.3 : J Leach to Labuschagne, 50 up for Marnus Labuschagne! He is playing as a like-for-like substitute for Smith and is playing a gutsy knock just like Smith. Full on off from Leach, Marnus pushes it towards mid off to take a run and get to his second half century. Good innings this from him. |
| 33.4 : J Leach to Head, Landed outside off, Head goes back and defends. |
| 33.5 : J Leach to Head, Full and outside off, pushed towards cover. |
| 33.6 : J Leach to Head, Comes down the track and drives it back to the bowler. |
| Jofra Archer is back for a final burst. 10-2-26-2 so far. He might well bowl 7 on the trot here. |
| 34.1 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Looks for a slower yorker first up but sends a full toss, Marnus reads it early to block. |
| 34.2 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Shortish one on middle and leg, ML blocks it off his back foot. |
| 34.3 : J Archer to Labuschagne, This is another shortish one from Archer but this is on off, blocked nicely again by Marnus. |
| 34.4 : J Archer to Labuschagne, That came in from outside off form a good length as ML left it alone. |
| 34.5 : J Archer to Labuschagne, Pushed towards square leg to get off strike. |
| 34.6 : J Archer to Head, Bowled the last one round the wicket looking for a shortish one but it is wide outside off, Head looks to go after the ball he misses it. |
| 35.1 : J Leach to Labuschagne, FOUR! Top Shot! Fullish ball on off, Marnus comes down the track to drive it superbly through covers to get another boundary. |
| 35.2 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Blocked off the front foot this time by ML. |
| 35.3 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Again comes down the track to this fullish ball outside off and drives it through cover to pick a couple this time. Didn't go hard at the ball. |
| 35.4 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Reverse sweep this time. This on middle and leg from Leach who is looking to land the ball on rough. Marnus brings the reverse sweep to take a couple. |
| 35.5 : J Leach to Labuschagne, Bowls one down the leg side. Marnus lets it go. |
| Labuschagne is caught! The umpires want to check that though for legality. The soft signal is OUT. Here comes the replays. Has Joe Root taken that cleanly? Has the ball bounced before? From one angle, it seems like the ball has bounced. From another, it looks like it is clean. Third umpire Joel Wilson feels it is a wicket. |
| 35.6 : J Leach to Labuschagne, OUT! The decision is given as caught but Labuschagne does not agree. There are words exchanged between him and Joe Root but the latter says that he caught it. Anyways, it is an unlucky dismissal for the Ashes debutant. Full and around middle, Labuschagne looks to play the sweep but he hits it right into the left thigh of Jos Buttler at short leg. The ball lobs towards short mid-wicket where Joe Root dives forward and takes a stunner. England celebrate but Labuschagn |
| The match livens up again. 72 balls left. 6 wickets needed. Matthew Wade comes out to bat. |
| 36.1 : J Archer to Head, Shortish length ball on off and middle, it didn't bounce much. Blocked well by Wade. |
| 36.2 : J Archer to Head, Goes for another bumper but this is on the leg side as Head works it fine to get a run. |
| 36.3 : J Archer to Wade, FOUR LEG BYES! Where did that come from. Another bumper from Archer, aiming the head. Wade ducks at it but is hit on the helmet and the ball goes over the keeper for a boundary. |
| The physio is out in the middle to check on Wade. Just having a look at the helmet. The norm these days. |
| 36.4 : J Archer to Wade, And again. Archer continues sending the bouncers. Another superb bouncer but Wade does well this time to duck. |
| 36.5 : J Archer to Wade, Goes for a yorker for a change. But this went down the leg side as Wade missed his flick. A mild appeal from Bairstow there but nothing from others. |
| 36.6 : J Archer to Wade, Shortish one this time, Wade works it towards mid-wicket to keep strike. |
| Tim Paine walks in at number 7, replacing Wade. The door has been kicked wide open. England need 5 wickets. 65 balls remaining. Leach is on a hat-trick as well! Men everywhere. 4 men around the wicket plus the keeper. |
| 37.1 : J Leach to Wade, OUT! CAUGHT! England are sending the win here as Wade is outta here now. Good length ball on middle, Wade comes forward to block this but the ball rises a tad bit to hit the gloves of Wade and lob towards the short leg fielder. Buttler is there and he is not going to drop that one. Leach doing a brilliant job here for them. |
| 37.2 : J Leach to Paine, Full and around middle, pushed back to the bowler. |
| 37.3 : J Leach to Paine, Around off, punched back to Leach again. |
| 37.4 : J Leach to Paine, Lunges to defend and thrusts this off the splice, just short of Rory Burns at silly point! |
| 37.5 : J Leach to Paine, Full and around off, pushed back to Jack the bowler. |
| 37.6 : J Leach to Paine, Tossed up outside off, solidly blocked towards the spinner. A wicket maiden for the left-arm spinner! |
| 38.1 : J Archer to Head, On a length outside off, coming in, pushed towards backward point for a single. 59 balls left. |
| 38.2 : J Archer to Paine, A ripper of a bouncer. Right at the body, Paine leaps to fend it off but gets hit on the arm. Paine does not show any pain, nor does he flinch. |
| 38.3 : J Archer to Paine, That has come in a long way! A length ball outside off, Tim looks to defend but the ball comes in a long way and cuts him into half, just going between bat and pad! |
| 38.4 : J Archer to Paine, Around off, the skipper looks to tuck but misses and is hit on the stomach. |
| 38.5 : J Archer to Paine, A bouncer now, TP ducks. |
| 38.6 : J Archer to Paine, Around middle, played in front of short leg where Buttler collects and flicks it back at the stumps, hitting them down. Bairstow appeals for a run out but Paine never left his crease. |
| 39.1 : J Leach to Head, Fuller on off, Head works it towards point with a push. |
| 39.2 : J Leach to Head, Good length on middle, Head blocks it off his back foot. |
| 39.3 : J Leach to Head, Good length on middle, Head works it towards square leg to get a run. |
| 39.4 : J Leach to Paine, FOUR! SHOT! Fuller ball on the leg stump, the Aussie skipper slams this through the mid on region to get off the mark as the ball races to the fence. |
| 39.5 : J Leach to Paine, Leach is aiming for the rough but unable to land it there. Paine pads it. |
| 39.6 : J Leach to Paine, Another attempt to land it on the rough but no success as Paine blunts this with his pad. |
| 40.1 : J Archer to Head, Full and around middle, flicked straight to short mid-wicket. |
| 40.2 : J Archer to Head, Down the leg side, tickled towards fine leg for a single. |
| 40.3 : J Archer to Paine, FOUR BYES! Too high for everyone. A short ball, around off, Paine leaps with the bounce and the ball goes well over him and his counterpart behind. Bairstow leaps but to no avail. The ball races to the fine leg fence. |
| 40.4 : J Archer to Paine, Another short ball, this is around his nose, the skipper rises and fends it down in front of short leg. |
| 40.5 : J Archer to Paine, Outside off, very full, good thinking from Jofra, Tim drives it towards cover. |
| 40.6 : J Archer to Paine, OUT! Caught! Is that a bird? Is that a plane? Is that Superman? No! It is Joe Denly. Take a bow. Plenty of drama left in this game. England 4 wickets away from levelling the series now. A short ball, outside off, Paine looks to pull but Joe Denly throws himself to his left, sticks out his hand and voila! It sticks! The entire English team is mobbing Denly who has probably made one of the biggest contributions of the match. That is a tough catch at this time of the night. |
| Pat Cummins walks out now. Counting the balls, are both the teams... |
| 41.1 : J Leach to Head, Fuller ball on off, Head blocks it off his front foot. |
| 41.2 : J Leach to T Head, FOUR! Another fullish ball on off, Head leans into the shot and drives this beautifully. The ball races through the mid off for a boundary. |
| 41.3 : J Leach to Head, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 41.4 : J Leach to Head, Fuller on off again as Head lunges to block. |
| 41.5 : J Leach to Head, Good length on middle and kept slightly low. Head did well to block. |
| 41.6 : J Leach to Head, Beaten! Gets this one to land on rough and beat the outside edge of the left-hander. Kept slightly low as well. Buttler removed the bails but Head never went out. |
| 42.1 : J Archer to Cummins, A short ball, outside off, Cummins sways away. |
| 42.2 : J Archer to Cummins, In the air... just short! A length ball down the leg side, Cummins nudges it towards leg gully. Ben Stokes comes charging in but the ball lands in front of him. He is unable to stop it but has the presence of mind to duck as he understands that the batsmen are going for the single. Bairstow quickly gets across and has a shy at the striker's end but misses. Head was well in. |
| 42.3 : J Archer to Head, Another bouncer! What a spell this is from Archer. This is on middle and off, Head leaps in the air to block this one to the point fielder. |
| 42.4 : J Archer to Head, What was that. Shortish one outside off, Head looked to sway away at first but eventually played at it to get beaten. |
| 42.5 : J Archer to Head, Another back of length ball on middle and leg, Head pushed towards the fine leg fielder. |
| 42.6 : J Archer to Head, Another bumper on the hips from Archer. Head looks to work it down the leg side but is hit on the hands. |
| 43.1 : J Leach to Cummins, Fullish one on the middle from Leach, Cummins blocks it well. |
| 43.2 : J Leach to Cummins, Good length ball outside off, Cummins pushes this one towards gully. |
| 43.3 : J Leach to Cummins, Lunges and blocks this by coming forward. |
| 43.4 : J Leach to Cummins, Left that ball outside off. |
| 43.5 : J Leach to Cummins, Another good length ball to which Cummins blocks off his front foot. |
| 43.6 : J Leach to Cummins, Fuller this time, Cummins blocks it well to see off the over. 4 more overs to go. |
| Interesting. The umpires feel that it is too dark right now. They reckon that Jofra Archer cannot bowl as his pace is too quick for the batsmen under this light. It has to be spin and Joe Denly it is to bowl. |
| 44.1 : Joe Denly to Head, Starts with one outside off on a fullish length which lands on the rough, Head looks play at it but is hit on the pads. |
| 44.2 : Joe Denly to Head, Blocks this fullish ball from the crease. |
| 44.3 : Joe Denly to Head, Fullish one this time, taps it to the slip fielder. |
| 44.4 : Joe Denly to Head, Good shot but straight to the fielder. Fullish on off, timed it straight to the cover fielder. |
| 44.5 : Joe Denly to Head, Fuller on again, Head pushes this to the cover fielder again. |
| 44.6 : Joe Denly to Head, Head blocks this well again to see off the over off his back foot. |
| 45.1 : Jack Leach to Cummins, WAS THAT A CATCH? Probably. Full and outside off, Cummins comes forward to drive and almost spoons a catch to Rory Burns at silly point. Burns dives but cannot hang on! |
| 45.2 : Jack Leach to Cummins, Full and around off, watchfully defended. |
| 45.3 : Jack Leach to Cummins, Outside off, left alone. |
| Root has gone for a review! Did the ball do enough to come back in? Cummins did not offer any shot. Here comes Ball Tracker. Missing off. Reviews done and dusted for England. |
| 45.4 : Jack Leach to Cummins, NOT OUT. Missing off. Review in excitement and desperation. Pitched around leg, from over the wicket, Cummins pads it away. He is hit on the pads and Root appeals, then going for the review. Ball Tracker confirms that it was spinning away. |
| 45.5 : Jack Leach to Cummins, The batsman has offered no stroke to an incoming delivery. |
| 45.6 : J Leach to Cummins, Full and around off, watchfully defended. |
| 46.1 : Joe Denly to Head, Fullish ball on off, Head drives it straight to cover. |
| 46.2 : Joe Denly to Head, Beaten this time! Fullish ball on fourth stump line. Head has a poke at it but is beaten. |
| 46.3 : Joe Denly to Head, Blocks it from the crease to this fullish ball. |
| 46.4 : Joe Denly to Head, Another fullish ball outside off, Head punches it towards mid off to get a couple. |
| 46.5 : Joe Denly to Head, Another fullish ball from Leach which doesn't land on the rough. Head blunts it nicely. |
| 46.6 : Joe Denly to Head, Fullish ball on off, Head drives it firmly through covers. The ball was going towards the fence but Broad hared at the ball to stop it. Interestingly no run taken. |
| 47.1 : J Leach to Cummins, Full and around off, watchfully defended past short leg. |
| 47.2 : J Leach to Cummins, Around off, watchfully blocked out. |
| 47.3 : J Leach to Cummins, Full and around off, Cummins lunges to smother the spin. |
| Well, umpire Aleem Dar takes the bails off. Australia have 4 wickets left, 3 balls left in the day and the time has ticked past 7.24 pm local time, which was the last permissible limit till when play could have gone on. Root walks over solemnly and shakes hands with Cummins. The second Test ends in a draw. We go 1-0 into Leeds. |
| This Test match had all the ingredients. Rain robbed us off 5 sessions. Out of a potential 15. But in the 10 that we got, fantastic cricket was played. Australia's decision to bowl first surprised all, but their bowling unit got that in their favour by dismissing England for 258. But their own batting could not come to terms again and fell 8 runs short. |
| That fourth day saw a lot of action. Steve Smith taking matters into his own hands and then that contest between him and Jofra Archer. Hit on the elbow, hit on the neck, felled over, concussed and eventually retiring hurt, before coming back on. He has been ruled out of the next Test as well but that is for now. What if he says he is fit on the 21st? |
| England were rocked early in their second innings as well, being reduced to 71/4 but then lives given to Ben Stokes - twice in 4 balls by David Warner let them off the hook. The scenario changed this morning when it was announced that Smith will miss the rest of this Test match. A new vigour came into the hosts' camp. They pummeled the bowling to all parts, with Stokes raising a century to remember. |
| Normally, with 10 wickets to play out 48 overs, you do expect the batting side to see those off. But Australia were reeling even before the first ball was bowled, as Smith was not there. They were reduced to 19/2 and then 47/3 before Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head staged a 85-run stand and almost saw the team home to stuff out a draw. ALMOST. |
| In cricket, they say that nothing is over till it is really over. Joe Root took a controversial catch to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne and the game turned. Next over, Matthew Wade was dismissed. 3 overs later, Paine threw his wicket away. Boy, the game was truly alive and kicking. But Cummins and Travis with a cool head managed to see off the remaining nervous moments and ensured that the Aussies still stay in the series lead. |
| Coming to the bowling. Two bowlers who were playing their first Test in this series - Josh Hazlewood and Jofra Archer - lit up the Lord's. Hazlewood rocked up England's top order while Jofra Archer went for the heads of every batsman. He kept reminding us of the fiery Caribbean pace of the 70s and 80s, hitting the Aussies hard and making them hop around like rabbits. Regardless of this result, one just feels that the Ashes has just begun for the English. Archer is probably the difference between |
| BEN STOKES HAS BEEN NAMED THE MAN OF THE MATCH. It was his century which brought the game to life. England will hope that it spurs him on for the rest of the series. |
| That is all we have from this 5-day-cum-4-day match. Australia manage to cling on to the urn and series lead but one will believe that with Smith potentially ruled out of the next Test, England have the momentum and the arsenal to level the series. But then, Australia had the momentum coming into this one. Probably it will be best if we leave it to the players to get us a wonderful game of cricket. Join us on Thursday, 22nd August, 2019 at 11 am local (1000 GMT) for all the action from the third |
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