Smith, Labuschagne, Carey help Australia get mammoth total, England two wicket down on Day 2.
Brief Scores: Australia 473/9d (Labuschagne 103, Warner 95, Smith 93, Stokes 113/3) lead England 17 for 2 (Hameed 6, Neser 4/1) by 456 runs
Australia started their innings today on the score of 221 for 2. Marnus Labuschagne who was unbeaten on 95, completed his sixth Test century by smashing a boundary between slips and gully.
Immediately after reaching the century, Labuschagne pushed towards a ball, which resulted in an edge and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler took the catch easily behind the wicket. However, pacer Ollie Robinson overstepped the popping crease line, which was given no-ball by the umpire and Labuschagne got a life on the score of 102. However, he could add only one run to his score and got out LBW off the same bowler.
First session yields three wickets for visitors
Australia skipper Steven Smith looked in fine touch and struck few boundaries early in the day. Smith collected many runs by hitting boundaries to Ben Stokes and part-time off-spinner Joe Root. The new batter Travis Head got beaten a few times before getting bowled out by Root. Root deceived the batter by his flighted delivery which the latter missed completely while trying for the flick.
Smith completed his 32nd fifty off 135 balls with a boundary off Stokes. His new partner Cameron Green didn’t trouble the scorers much and got out on the score of 2 as Stokes shattered his stumps with a late out-swinging delivery. England bowlers finished the first session with three wickets.
In the second session, Smith and wicketkeeper batter Alex Carey batted beautifully. Especially Smith dominated the opponent bowlers after reaching his fifty. He hammered two boundaries in an over bowled by Root. The right-hander also smoked a gigantic six off Chris Woakes. His partner Carey also batted sensibly and collected occasional boundaries.
Smith got out on 93, Australia declared the innings on 473-9
Smith reached the nervous 90s by hitting a boundary off Stokes, however, he was given LBW off the delivery of James Anderson on the score of 93. The batter reviewed it but unfortunately for him, the decision remained unchanged on account of being umpire’s call to send Smith back to the pavilion short of only seven runs of a well-deserved century.
Carey completed his half-century off 104 balls, though he also got out, as Haseeb Hameed took his catch at short cover off the delivery of Anderson. Michael Neser and Mitchell Starc helped Australia reach 400. All-rounder Michael Neser smacked some swashbuckling strokes to collect quick runs. He smashed two boundaries and one six in an over bowled by Woakes. However, Stokes sent Neser back to the hut on the score of 35. Lower-order batter Mitchell Starc looked in fine form and clobbered three boundaries in an over bowled by Stokes.
After the wicket of Jhye Richardson, Australia skipper Smith declared the innings on the score of 473 runs to put tired England batters to bat in the last few overs at the end of the day. Starc remained unbeaten on the score of 39 with the help of five boundaries.
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Australia cleaned up visitors’ openers early
England openers, Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns, came out to bat in front of new ball bowling pair of Mitchell Starc and Jhye Richardson. However, Burns couldn’t face a fiery spell bowled by Starc and ended up giving a catch to Smith at slip. He was completely pinned down by the bowler while going for a defensive shot. Next batter Dawid Malan played two overs cautiously before his partner Hameed got out on the score of just six. Debutant Neser made a dream debut and bagged his first Test wicket on the second delivery of the over.
What Lies Ahead?
Australia bowlers will try to clean up the middle-order of visitors tomorrow morning to bundle them out on a low total whereas England will try to steady the innings tomorrow morning.
Here are some of the top Twitter reactions from AUSvsENG Adelaide Test, Day 2:
Read More: Aus vs Eng: 1st Test, Ashes 2021-22: Cummins-led Aus reclaim Fortress Gabba; beat Eng by 9 wickets
