Matthew Hayden might be the only Australian who’s happy to see Joe Root score a ton.
The second test of the long awaited Ashes series has begun. The pink ball test is one that comes with certain expectations on what we all anticipate to see. For starters, Australia have won 12 of the last 14 pink ball tests they’ve played. Mitchell Starc is also known to thrive with the pink ball. Plus, the English received a fair amount of criticism after choosing to forgo the PM’s XI which would’ve been a good warmup with a pink ball to which they instead, Joe Root, decided to share he didn’t think The Ashes even needed a pink ball test. With all that laid out, I think it’s safe to say many Aussies expect to roll over the Poms at the Gabba, but if there’s one thing you should never do in cricket, is feel too settled.
England won the toss and elected to bat, a wise tactic as the Gabba heat would’ve worn down the Aussie bowlers on the first day, with the added potential for the poms of bowling in the cooler night later in the day if the batting innings mimicked what happened in Perth. Australia came out with an intriguing side, Josh Inglis was substituted for an injured Usman Khawaja (Head will open the batting and Inglis will come in at 5). Plus to many’s pure astonishment, Nathan Lyon had been dropped for Michael Neser, opting for four fast paced bowlers and no spin.
The first over of the day came and many of us expected Mitchell Starc to take yet another first over wicket. Sadly for the Aussies though, Zak Crawley finally got some runs on the board after getting a pair of ducks in the first test. But on the fifth ball of the first over Starc continued his streak and sent off Ben Duckett for a first ball duck. On Starcs next over, Ollie Pope chopped the ball to the stumps for Starc to get his second wicket in two overs. Leaving The Poms on 2/5. But then out came Joseph Root.
Joe Root played a slow but methodical innings and finally succeeded in achieving his long awaited mile stone of earning a century in Australia, something he had not yet achieved. Crawley and Root held the line and built a solid foundation for the poms, before Crawley departed sending in Harry Brook who went on to score a respectable 31 before Starc took his third wicket. But then out came the captain Ben Stokes. The Kayo commentary team noted that Stokes was calm, not his usual fiery temperament, and noted that they suspect the Aussies will capitalise and he will make a mistake. Which Stokes eventually did but the wicket was only secured by an incredible piece of fielding from Josh Inglis.
@haidereditx57 JOSH INGLIS YOU BEAUTY WHAT A RUNOUT!☠👀🏏 #Ashes #foryoupagе #engvsaus #cricketlover #england ♬ original sound – HAIDER⚡👀🏏
After Stokes departed, Jamie Smith came out and was taken for a duck by Scott Boland, Will Jacks scored 19 before Steve Smith made a great catch he claims he “didn’t even see”. Gus Atkinson departed for 4 after Alex Carey displayed his AFL prowess and sprinted half the ground to steal a catch from Marnus Labuschagne. Brydon Carse went for a duck with an elite caught behind by Starc and Carey. But even though it seemed over, Jofra Archer came out to bat the last 45 minutes of play with Joe Root.
@kayosports Alex Carey takes an INCREDIBLE CATCH despite colliding with Marnus Labuschagne🤯 Catch the #TheAshes in 4k and with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo! #Cricket #AUSvENG #Ashes ♬ original sound – Kayo Sports
I’ll say it, I don’t think Bazball is a smart strategy for playing test cricket. It has its moments, but usually it just feels like England playing recklessly with throwing away a game when they have 5-days to play. But that last 45-minutes of play last night was one of the best displays of Bazball I’d seen yet. Joe Root and Jofra Archer batted out the rest of days play, despite both teams looking ready for nearly an hour, for the innings to end and Australia to bat.
@codesportsau Joe Root finally gets his century on Australian soil! 👏👏 #ashes #england #australia #joeroot ♬ original sound – CODE Sports
When stumps finally came at 10:30pm AEDT last night, England were on 9-325. As of right now the English have not declared and they likely won’t, odds are they’ll send Root and Archer back out to bat for another 15-30 minutes. England will want to get as much as they can but they won’t want to wear out their signature pace bowler Archer.
Play resumes at 2pm local time or 3pm AEDT.
