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Test Cricket News, Chris Woakes & Jos Buttler’s long spells with the bat wasn’t enough to stop Australia from winning the 2nd Ashes Test by 275 runs

by Sports Benches

What a way to wrap the 2nd Test on the fifth & final day in a Day/Night format at Adelaide Oval with Australia won by 275 runs & are one step closer towards retaining the Ashes Series at 2-0 with three matches left beginning on Sunday in Melbourne.

Commiserations for England right now when Chris Woakes scored some handy runs on 44 before he was clean bowled by Jhye Richardson, the same goes to Jos Buttler who might not have scored quickly as Woakes but at least he stuck in there for as long as he can & sadly he‘ll be disappointed not to overplant his back foot into the stumps. There’s only one way now to fight back and that is winning the remaining three tests so expect to see some wholesale changes especially in the opener batting slots.

And hats off to Jhye Richardson who snatched up his first five wicket haul at test level (42-5) when he bowled a couple of good balls that got the England openers out in their 2nd innings spell, Not only he fired off with the early wickets for Australia but he ended the long-running Buttler & Woakes partnership by punishing Woakes through the stumps before he finished off the game in style with Buttler’s hit wicket which is a big highlight towards Australia’s journey towards the finish line.

I also want to point out that he can bat a bit too especially after he whacked a huge six over the rope during both innings where I’d like to see him execute more of these in the Sheffield Shield before he can score a few Test 50s like Pat Cummins in a few years time.

Now there’s going to be a selection headache going into Melbourne this Sunday with Pat Cummins back after a short quarantine period due to some positive COVID contact as well as Josh Hazlewood, it’ll be interesting to see if they’re going to mightily keep a winning team with one or two changes & guide them to another win closer to retaining the Urn once again.

#AUSvENG #Australia #England #JosButtler #ChrisWoakes #JhyeRichardson #TestCricket #Cricket

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Test Cricket News, Australia in the box seat at 82-4 with six wickets left to win after Day 4 in the 2nd Test of 2021-22 Ashes

by Sports Benches

England may have been given a free run at the Australian batting attack with a few wickets earlier in the 3rd innings yesterday, but it doesn’t mean they are back in contention when being way behind as England are required to chase down 468 after Australia declared 230-9 not long before tea. Going into Day 5 & England now 82-4 with 386 runs needed to on the fifth & final day today at Adelaide Oval.

Gotta say that Rory Burns may have batted slightly better this time on 34 but he’s yet to find any decent numbers so far this Ashes tour + his fielding hasn’t helped much either as it’s most likely that he’ll be replaced by Zak Crawley for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, while Joe Root & Dawid Malan did the heavy lifting both as part-time spinners with support from the quicks including Ollie Robinson who picked up two wickets in Australia’s 2nd innings run.

And great to see Jhye Richardson snatch up a six during his short time batting at the tail end as well as pile up two early wickets that would hopefully see Australia reach the finish line first later today, it’s also wonderful to see Marnus Labuschagne & Travis Head secure their 50s while Cameron Green scored a handy 33 runs as the quickie all-rounder that extended Australia’s lead further in this test match.

All eyes now on the England middle-order of Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope & Jos Buttler to turn this unlikely challenge around if they can, the same goes for the Australian bowling attack to finish the job & go 2-0 up in the 2021-22 Ashes series with three more test matches left.

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Test Cricket News, Joe Root & Dawid Malan partnership lifted England earlier on a Day 3 in the 2021-22 Ashes but it’s Australia who rejuvenated afterwards with a healthy lead

by Sports Benches

Nice seeing Joe Root & Dawid Malan pick up the pieces for England where they made up some lost time as this partnership continued to work like the previous test at the Gabba last week during the opening session, however, they weren’t unable to hold on that momentum after the dinner break even though it’s a long way away to chase that run trail down with England lost four wickets for 57 towards tea (197-6) before they were all out for 236 (237 runs behind Australia).

Australia on the other hand fought back after a slow start earlier in the afternoon (140-2 at dinner) as they still maintain a healthy run lead ahead of the change of innings with the option of enforcing the follow-on, but they instead not to do so & batted once again where Australia will resume at 45-1 alongside a 282 run lead on Day 4 tomorrow.

Credit from stand-in skipper Steve Smith, who picked up two catches off the dangerous Root & Malan pair, while Mitchell Starc continued to shine with four wickets on hand after a brilliant quickfire batting spell last night including some support from Cameron Green (2 wickets) & Nathan Lyon made England regret not bringing a dedicated spinner in this test.

With the bat during such a short time tonight, Marcus Harris would be disappointed when he didn’t communicate well that ran David Warner out but he’s fine right now at 21* with more to come & Michael Neser hopes to secure a debut Test 50 having been jettisoned to the crease as the nightwatchman before Australia can declare within 100-150 runs more so their bowlers are rested up to finish the job.

Going to back to England now apart from Root & Malan, it’s great to see Ben Stokes & Chris Woakes pick up handy runs as they can while Stuart Broad added just a few against a tiring Australian bowling attack plus a six off an unlucky mis-catch from Mitchell Starc before he was spot on the field via direct hit to Warner. There’s nothing else to say at this stage when England still need to try and limit Australia’s 2nd innings spell ASAP before going all-in for whatever run total they require with two days left at Adelaide Oval.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Australia #England #TestCricket #Cricket #AdelaideOval

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Test Cricket News, Australia continues their red hot start in Day 2 of the 2nd 2021-22 Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval

by Sports Benches

Australia continued to pile up more runs on Day 2 where they’ve set up a good batting total in the first innings of 473-9 via declaration not long after tea before they finished their hard day’s of work a bit early due to lightning & rain with the ball at 17-2.

Plenty of good moments that began from Marnus Labuschagne who secured his sixth Test 100 after he was fortunate to escape Jos Buttler’s sloppy catch of his gloves & cashed into runs, although Travis Head & Cameron Green were clean bowled for low scores but it doesn’t mean Australia regressed when Steve Smith batted superbly as stand-in skipper even though he was gutted not to escape the nervous 90s on 93 & we also saw Alex Carey score his 50 on his 2nd Test match.

We also cannot forget Michael Neser & Mitchell Starc, who not only scored quick fire spells in the mid 30s run mark, but they also shared two early wickets with the ball that gave another advantage going into Day 3 tomorrow for Australia & make more damage on England’s best remaining batting card as Neser is settling really well at Test level after waiting his debut for a very long time even though he’s 31 now.

England on the other hand may have caught up with a few wickets on hand with great areas around the stumps including an excellent late spell from James Anderson (2 wickets) not long before tea, however, they continued to leak runs when the fielding continued to flop such as Ollie Pope at the back & Jos Buttler with the hit and miss catches behind the keeping gloves.

But the one player who disappointed everyone so far this Ashes series is Rory Burns having miscommunicated that overthrow for four as well as still being vulnerable to the Australian quicks & not delivering these numbers as required at Test level, nothing to say right now as if he continues that poor start later in this game then it’s time to go by the Melbourne Boxing Day Test.

England need Dawid Malan & Joe Root to rekindle that spark tomorrow which worked so well in their 2nd innings run last week as it’s going to take a lot of time.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Cricket #MarnusLabuschagne #SteveSmith #AlexCarey #MichaelNeser #MitchellStarc #JamesAnderson #Australia #England

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Test Cricket News, Day 1 of the 2nd Test 2021-22 Ashes Series Match Report as Australia off to a brilliant start at Adelaide Oval

by Sports Benches

Australia on a roll after Day 1 of the 2nd Test at Adelaide Oval under the day/night setting at 221/2, it’s nice to see David Warner & Marnus Labuschagne form a bigger partnership by using a mixture of defensive blocks off good balls & vary a couple of strike selections that made England tough to handle.

Although Warner may be unlucky not to escape the nervous 90s on 95 through that catch from Stuart Broad off Ben Stokes, there’s still some question marks though such as Marcus Harris’s batting which didn’t work out well once again in the afternoon session but we’ll wait and see how Michael Neser steps up on his debut Test match after Pat Cummins got in contact with someone who has COVID and was forced to isolate for a week.

For now, let Labuschagne (95) get his 100 tomorrow afternoon when play resumes as well as help stand-in skipper Steve Smith (18) form another big partnership for another 100-150 runs before declaring it & bring out these bowlers with a slightly changed line-up of Mitchell Starc, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson & Nathan Lyon.

England had the early advantage off Marcus Harris thanks to the returning Stuart Broad who later captured another victim in Warner with his catch a while ago after he was dropped during the opening test which gave some relief, but they were helpless for the majority with no way to make Warner & Labuschagne feel vulnerable of their spin & speed plus there’s little support from the field either including that dropped catch from keeper Jos Buttler twice on Labuschagne at 21 & 95*

The away team will have much-needed sleep now for the night & hopefully they wake up refreshed with ideas at least to knock down the remaining Australian batting card first as early as possible, then the pressure is on for their openers to step up in order to help the top & middle order pile the maximum runs they need to help England stay in contention.

#Ashes #Australia #England #Cricket #TestCricket #DavidWarner #MarnusLabuschagne #StuartBroad #InternationalCricket #Adelaide Oval

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Test Cricket News, Nathan Lyon ended the Root-Malan partnership as Australia hit the winning runs in the 1st Ashes Test by nine wickets

by Sports Benches

Credit to Nathan Lyon who finally ended the partnership of Dawid Malan & Joe Root this morning with his 400th Test wicket on Malan (82) + 4 wicket haul, it’s also great to see Australia’s fielding improve with a few successful catches as well as some support to their frontline bowling options from Cameron Green where he got rid of Root for 89.

It gave time for Australia’s frontline quicks (Pat Cummins & Josh Hazlewood) to get back up to speed & made good use of that 2nd new ball where they cleared the remaining England batting card with Green & Lyon for 299 & a 19 run trail before Australia finished the game easily with winning runs by 9 wickets, well done to the Aussies as they lead the five-match Ashes series 1-0.

England have kept it simple during their 2nd innings resurgence yesterday afternoon with Root & Malan despite the openers still being sub-par after a poor first two days, but they just couldn’t keep that momentum going when they returned this AM with potential hundreds & a bigger run stand stolen by Australia before a small lead wasn’t enough to stay in contention.

What Australia will focus now is continue their strong start going into Adelaide & hope that David Warner recovers in time for Thursday’s next test, England needs to at least revisit their opening options if they are to fight back as these guys like Rory Burns who weren’t up to the challenge while they would greatly benefit from James Anderson’s return & maybe Stuart Broad with the ball.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Australia #England #Cricket #InternationalCricket #TestCricket #NathanLyon #JoeRoot #DawidMalan #CameronGreen

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Test Cricket News, Day 3 of the 2021-22 Ashes Match Report as Joe Root & Dawid Malan fights back for England

by Sports Benches

Hats off to Travis Head who produced a test quality knock of 152 for Australia which a little more than what England scored in the 1st innings (147), although Australia left an acceptable lead of 278 when they were all out for 425 but they haven’t found it much ever since after their strong start off England’s openers especially with the partnership of David Malan & Joe Root that halted their progress.

Meanwhile, Mark Wood did a great finishing up with the ball earlier on Day 3 for England, now these openers (Rory Burns & Haseeb Hameed) were slapped again with respective sub-par scores after lunch but gotta say the top-order partnership of Joe Root & David Malan have rescued their day going into Day 4 where they both batted simply down the ground, hung in there & earned their own 50s off the bat while building a big partnership at the same time.

What Australia has to do is make the most of that new ball tomorrow with flawless fielding by their side after a exhausted 2nd half run today as they still have a 58 run lead at 220-2 if not there’s still another easy way to go 1-0 up in this Ashes series, while England need Root (86*) & Malan (80*) to keep their head up by converting these centuries, climb out of the run trail & stay there for longer that will at least turn into a draw or an outside shot of winning the 1st Test.

#AUSvENG #Australia #England #TheAshes #Cricket #TestCricket #TheGabba #InternationalCricket #MarkWood #TravisHead #JoeRoot #DawidMalan

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Test Cricket News, Day 2 of the 1st Test in the 2021-22 Ashes Match Report

by Sports Benches

That partnership with David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne was one of Australia’s best moments earlier on Day 2, who both remained calm and collective in the middle before they flied plenty of decent shots out of the park that sealed their half-tons. 

Warner & Labuschagne may not have converted into a century going into tea when Australia just overtook England for the lead but Travis Head kept them alive in the middle at No.5 when he proved doubters wrong about his inconsistency & earned his way to a nice ton himself which is a wonderful way Australia’s end Day 2 progress in style.

They lead by 196 runs at 343-7 so Australia should stay at the crease for a little longer with Head still out there & Mitchell Starc can bat a handy amount of runs before we bring out their bowling strikeforce & try to finish that 1st Test with a win.

Meanwhile, England took an early advantage off the inexperienced Marcus Harris thanks to Ollie Robinson, who also blocked Warner towards escaping his nervous 90s on 94 before he launched a free run & clean bowled Cameron Green for a duck.

Although England were unlucky to dismiss Warner earlier on through that no ball from Ben Stokes, who just overstepped the line on his front foot but England looked very lost during the 1st half of today while wiping Steve Smith for 12 &  Australia’s middle-order card wasn’t enough to reserve their slump thanks to the last man standing in Travis Head.

What England has to do now is wrap up this bowling spell ASAP in the AM session tomorrow before they can use most of Day 3 through lunch & tea to catch up with the bat, then they can use Day 4 to set Australia a difficult run total to chase but only if one or two of their decent batsmen can survive long enough.

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Test Cricket News, 2021-22 Ashes 1st Test between Australia & England Day 1 update

by Sports Benches

What a day to kickstart their Ashes campaign at The Gabba in Brisbane for the Aussies on Day 1 where they found a way to knock down England’s tail end up early with four wickets (59-4) in the AM session ahead of lunch, then continued that momentum after they bowled them all out for 147.

Nice early tea break for the home side as Pat Cummins bowled beautifully that earned his five-wicket haul alongside Josh Hazlewood who robbed England’s key players with the bat, but the rain has held back for the rest of the afternoon, so Australia will come out to bat tomorrow during the start of Day 2 & use that time to build a big partnership.

England on the other hand gave themselves a lift after lunch thanks to the middle-order partnership of Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler who each made 30+ runs, the damage was already done, however, when the England top-order were exposed by the opposition fast bowling earlier on before it was too late that gave Buttler & Pope a lot of pressure to survive at least after Day 1 which wasn’t successful.

What England can do now is smash the Australian top-order out early & overtake them for the lead but they only have one dedicated fast bowler in Mark Wood and spinner (Jack Leach) plus two fast bowling all-rounders to that job with no Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson.

We’ll wait and see if this England bowling group is going to surprise us tomorrow on Day 2 but if you look at Australia’s decent batting arsenal then Australia continue to build that strong Day 1 momentum with a huge total before they think about finishing that 1st test match on a high.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #PatCummins #Australia #JoshHazlewood #OlliePope #JosButtler #England #BaggyGreen #BarmyArmy #TheGabba #Cricket #TestCricket

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Rugby News, Australia continue their 2021 European Tour with another defeat against England at Twickenham Stadium

by Sports Benches

The Wallabies lost yet again in Europe having fell short last week v Scotland in Murrayfield by 12 points at 15-13, however, they were beaten so easily by England especially in the 2nd half thanks to messy discipline that wasted a lot more time until its too late.

Yes, they have built some three-point penalty goals in a way to keep themselves in contention, but the execution such as the long throws through the wide areas is appalling and needs to regroup going into Wales next Saturday.

And England are on fire today at Twickenham where they responded well from the Wallabies early three-pointer thanks to full-back Freddie Steward, having taken advantage of their poor discipline with a four-point lead at half-time (16-12) before England continued to be blessed by more Wallaby mistakes left, right & centre that accrued two more penalty goals followed by a sensational finish to the game (Final Score: 32-15) by sub hooker Jamie Blamire, who scored six tries from his first four International games.

Next up the Wallabies will finish their 2021 European tour when they will meet Wales next Saturday at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, while England face off the Springboks from South Africa at the same time.

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