Day 1 of the 2015 Ashes delivered in spades for drama, excitement and great cricket. The match is evenly poised with England 7/343 off 88 overs.
A few takeaways for me on the first day were:-
Pivotal moment – the obvious one here is the dropped catch by Brad Haddin on Joe Root’s second ball. Root, England’s in-form batsman played at what originally looked like a bump ball but upon further review the ball came off the back outside edge of the bat.
Haddin was originally wrong footed but dived, going for the ball one-handed. It was a simple catch that just has to be taken.
Root went on to make Haddin pay, making 134 from 166 balls, an innings full of fluent shots and streaky edges. Not pretty at times but very effective. It was an important catch to take, to put a dent in Root’s sky high confidence and set the tone for the series against the oppositions best batsman.
Had Haddin taken the catch, England would have been 4/43 and in a lot of trouble.
Moment to file in the memory banks – Mitchell Starc had an up and down day, taking three wickets. For the most part, the control just wasn’t there. However, his delivery to bowl Ben Stokes for 52, just as he was looking dangerous, was a peach and will remain in the memory banks for Starc, the Englishmen and Aussies skipper Michael Clarke.
I am worried about – Mitchell Johnson. Did not seem comfortable last night in the 1st change role. 22 overs 0/87 (4.35 rpo) is a pretty ordinary day’s return considering how all the noise coming out of the camp was that he was in a great frame of mind. If this and Starc’s erratic form continues can we afford to stay with this attack for the whole series? Not sure.
What Australia needs on Day 2 – clean up England as quickly as possible, ideally for under 400 with a couple of confidence boosting wickets for Mitchell Johnson. Big runs needed from the top order to take the pressure off the brittle middle order of Shane Watson and Brad Haddin. Steve Smith to be Australia’s Joe Root.
What England needs on Day 2 – bat most of the day, make 600. If not, get the ball swinging and have Australia’s top order under immense pressure.
What the – the pre-game “entertainment was awful, made the State of Origin show, which was roughly on at the same time look good. Why did we need all the pre-game ceremonies when the game was starting late. Just get on with the cricket.
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