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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, 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, 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, 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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