Australia are in an even more commanding position after Day 2 of the 2nd Ashes Test at Lords.
After Steve Smith’s imperious 215 carried Australia to a monstrous innings of 8/566 dec, England’s top order crumbled to be 4/30 before Alistair Cook and Ben Stokes steadied the ship somewhat to see England a massive 481 runs behind at the close of play on 4/85.
Pivotal moment – Mitchell Johnson’s spell with the new ball, where he knocked over Garry Ballance may just be the turning point of the whole series, in much the same way that Glenn McGrath did at the same venue 18 years earlier. The Johnson of 2014/15 was back and you could almost hear the groans coming from the English dressing room.
It was all topped off when Johnson found the edge of Joe Root’s bat when the talismanic batsman was on just 1. There was no letting the chance go begging behind the stumps this time.
Moment to file in the memory banks – Mitchell Marsh’s innings may have been brief, but I like what I saw, apart from his shot to get out. Stroking his first ball for 4 through mid-off, he looked to have all the intent and confidence that had been lacking from the man he replaced Shane Watson.
Marsh backed that up with a couple of tight overs late in the day, one of the knocks on his bowling had been that he leaks too many runs. While the overs were late in the day and the English batsman were no doubt looking to survive through to stumps, encouraging signs were there.
Peter Nevill looked comfortable out there – after waiting a day and half to taste some action in his debut test, Nevil looked more than comfortable in the cauldron of an Ashes test. His innings of 45 came at a decent clip in just 59 balls. Controlled aggression and use of the angles are clearly how he plays.
The most encouraging sign was his wicketkeeping. Great footwork and energy, he got off to almost the best start possible taking a catch off the 2nd ball of the innings to dismiss Adam Lyth off the bowling of Mitchell Starc. He would have been relieved to get that one out of the way. The catch of Root was an important moment to deliver and he did the job with aplomb.
Brad Haddin should be worried about his spot in the team, if indeed he is worried about cricket at all at the moment.
What Australia needs on Day 3 – a continuation of the dominance of the past two days. Ideally they would like to be batting by the mid point of the day, bat for a day and set England about 600 to win in a day and a half.
What England needs on Day 3 – bat all day. Cook needs to match Smith’s double century and needs support from the likes of Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali. They need to bat all day to get anywhere near Australia’s total and put the pressure back on in the third inning of the match.
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