(Cricket news) Australia end day 1 of the 2nd Ashes Test at 221/2 with Marnus Labuschagne unbeaten at 95 along with Steve Smith on 18. Newly appointed captain Pat Cummins was ruled out of the game after being identified as a close contact of a COVID patient. His deputy Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first. England decided to play with 5 seamers and use Joe Root as the sole spinner. They also left out Mark Wood who had a good game in Brisbane.
David Warner and Marcus Harris walked in to face the classic duo of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. The England seamers made it very difficult for the Aussies to score runs. Both the lefties were struggling to pick up Anderson who kept bowling on his off stump from over the wicket. Harris survived a close LBW call thanks to DRS but fell shortly after to Broad courtesy of a brilliant diving catch from Jos Buttler. From then on England bowlers had to toil really hard as Warner and Marnus Labuschagne built a very good partnerships just like they did at the Gabba.
Warner didn't play anywhere near his usual striker rate and had to be patient. Joe Root decided to bring on Ben Stokes on one end and bowl from the other himself. Stokes barraged in with a series of relentless short deliveries to both the batters troubling them on many occasions. Labuschagne gloved one of Stokes' short balls to Buttler when he was on 21 but the keeper couldn't hold on to it. Warner was on his way to what would've been a gritty hundred but threw his wicket away in the nineties for the 2nd game in a row. He played Stokes' wide half volley which he could've hit anywhere straight to Jos Buttler at extra cover. The partnership for the 2nd wicket was worth 172 runs with Warner contributing 95.
Labuschagne and Steve Smith negotiated the rest of the overs well. Labuschagne once again dropped Buttler, this time off Anderson on 95, a catch which he would've taken 99 out of a 100 times. Labuschagne played for his 95 but did ride his luck. He had a lot of catches that didn't carry or were wide and had a lot of plays and misses. Australia are well on top as England have bowled 9 overs with the 2nd new ball. England need to pick quick wickets in the first session tomorrow to get back into the game.
