England v Australia, 4th Test: Day 2 Report by Andy Jalil

---

Ground:	Kingston Oval, Canberra
Scorecard:	England v Australia
Event:	Australia in England and Ireland 2015

---

DateLine: 7th August 2015

 

By Andy Jalil at Trent Bridge
In association with INVESTEC

 

Andy Jalil at Trent Bridge In association with INVESTEC cricketarchive.com pcboard.com.pk © pcboard.com.pk

 

England in command heading towards victory

 

Nottingham – England have maintained their inextricable grip on the fourth Test as they head towards what appears to be an inevitable victory. Having had the upper hand throughout the first two days play they have put themselves firmly in position to regain the Ashes. By close of play Australia were just about hanging on as they slowly inched their way to 241 for seven with Adam Voges keeping his end going on 48 over two-and-a-half-hours while Ben Stokes outstanding bowling giving him a haul of 5 for 35.

 

Earlier, resuming on 274 for four, England lost Joe Root after he had added just six runs to his overnight score of 124. Root had edged his drive behind the stumps to a ball that was angled across off stump. He was the first of three victims of Mitchell Starc on the second morning as the Australia fast bowler, nine runs later, yorked Mark Wood for 28 and then reduced England to 320 for seven uprooting Jos Buttler’s off stump. It had been a remarkable spell of 12 balls in which Starc had three wickets for five.

 

Josh Hazelwood claimed his second wicket of the innings when Ben Stokes edged a flick to a ball outside leg stump and England, within the first hour’s play had lost four for 58 runs. That was followed by a fine stand of 58 from just 46 balls for the ninth wicket between Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad. There was a flurry of boundaries from Ali, all coming from lovely stroke-play.

 

He hit two consecutive fours off Starc, first a splendid drive through covers and then a clip to square leg. He brought up the 350 of the innings when he went down the pitch for a straight six off Nathan Lyon. Australia took the second new ball at this stage after 80.3 overs on 357 for eight. Ali then hit two successive fours off Josh Hazelwood, the first was an effortless straight push of sheer timing and that was followed by an on-drive.

 

The second new ball made little difference to either batsman as Hazelwood’s second over with it went for 20. It included a six and a four by Broad and two more fours off consecutive balls by Ali. The fifty of their partnership came from 42 balls. The stand was broken by Mitchell Johnson with Ali held on 38 from only 24 balls and 34 of his runs had come from boundaries. England were then 390 for nine and a run later Alastair Cook signalled declaration.

 

It left Australia ten minutes to bat before lunch facing three overs for 14. After the break Chris Rogers and David Warner piled up the runs in a solid opening stand of 113. They did have some anxious moments. Warner as dropped on 10 by Cook at slip off Broad and again on 42 by Ian Bell at second slip off Ben Stokes. Rogers was caught at third slip by Root only for the third umpire to confirm a no-ball. He did get to his 14th Test half century, off 78 balls, before Root brought off a one-handed catch at third slip to dismiss him on 52.

 

Warner, who had reached his 18th Test fifty from 64 balls and celebrated it with a six off Wood, fell in Stokes next over for 64, mis-timing his pull and top-edging to mid-on. Six runs later Australia lost two wickets on 136. With Sean Marsh going for two, Stokes had taken the first three wickets for 4 runs in a brilliant 13-ball spell and the tourists, after a battling opening stand were suddenly floundering on 138 for four at tea with Steve Smith’s low firm drive to point being well held in the last over before the break.

 

Michael Clarke and Adam Voges were defensive, perhaps understandably, from the start of the final session but their stand of 38 was broken by Mark Wood when the Australia captain edged to first slip where Cook, in attempting to catch, was fortunate to parry the ball to Ian Bell at second slip.

 

There was more defensive batting to come as Voges and Nevill put on a stand of 50 in an hour and a quarter before Nevill was lbw to a ball from Stokes to which he did not play a stroke. The last wicket to fall before stumps was Mitchell Johnson for 5 as he edged Stokes to first slip.

 

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2015 Andy Jalil)