Warner, Labuschagne, Head lead the Australia’s counter attack, lead by 196 runs
Brief Scores: Australia 343 for 7 (Head 112*, Labuschagne 74, Robinson 3/48) lead by 196 runs over England 147 (Jos Buttler 39, Ollie Pope 35, Cummins 5/38)
After bowling England out on 147 on Day 1, Australia started their first innings today morning. David Warner and Marcus Harris started the proceedings for hosts. Harris edged an outside off stump ball bowled by Ollie Robinson straight in the hands of Dawid Malan at slip. Marnus Labuschagne joined Warner in the middle and got off quickly. Labuschangne smacked two boundaries off Robinson early in the innings.
Warner-Labuschagne build the Innings
Opener David Warner was lucky, as he bowled out by left-arm speedster Ben Stokes on the no-ball. Warner made most of the luck early in the innings and paced his innings sensibly. Both batters freed their arms after spinner Jack Leach came to attack. Warner smashed two sixes off Leach in one over, whereas his partner Labuschagne hammered a boundary on the last ball of the same over.
Labuschagne didn’t stop taking chances against Leach and smoked towering six over the long-on boundary. The right-hander completed his fifty in just 71 balls by cracking a boundary through backward point. Warner got another life as dropped by Rory burns at second slip before reaching his 31st fifty.
English skipper Joe Root brought speedster Mark Wood on to attack who looked in a good rhythm early on. He did produce some testing pace bowling spells to both the batters. The right-arm pacer reached close to 152 kph in his stupendous spell. However, both batters keep milking runs from occasional boundaries. Australia took lead over Visitors as they went past 147. Their partnership reached 150 runs in meantime.
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Jack Leach breaks the partnership by sending back Labuschagne
Labuschagne continued to attack against spin, walking down the wicket and smacking six over the long-on boundary. However, on the next delivery, the batter found the fielder straight to the backward point. Mark Wood didn’t make any mistake while taking the catch. Labuschagne made 74 runs off 117 balls in his stupendous innings. Australia’s no. 4, Steven Smith looked in fine touch and cracked a boundary on the very second ball he faced.
Smith suffered a strong LBW appeal by Mark Wood but was turned down by the Umpire. England skipper Joe Root reviewed it, the ball clearly missed the off-stump and cost visitors a review. On the very next ball, Smith got a life as Dawid Malan missed stumps while taking a single. However, Smith edged to the ball well outside off stump and was caught by wicket-keeper Jos Butler. The veteran batter could make only 12 runs in this innings.
Warmer misses the century by six runs
Warner looked all set for a hundred today, however slower delivery bowled by Robinson yielded a catch at mid-off from the batter, caught by Stokes. Warner missed his century by six. He cracked 11 fours and two sixes in his blistering knock. Robinson shattered stumps of next batter Cameron Green on the first ball, which brought visitors in the game, as Australia got five down on 196.
Travis Head’s counterpunch, third Test Century
Travis Head from the word go counterattacked English bowlers and put them under pressure. Head pummelled three boundaries in an over of Stokes. Also, he launched a monumental six over long-on off Joe Root. His partner Alex Carey was caught by Ollie Pope at mid-wicket. This was the first wicket of Chris Woakes in the innings. England wanted to keep Australia below 250 in the innings by running through the lower order, but Head’s attacking game changed the momentum of the game. He completed his fifty in just 51 deliveries through a boundary off Mark Wood.
He came down hard to spinner Leach to smash back-to-back boundaries. Head smacked a six over long-on in the very next over of the Leach.
Leach looked the weakest link of the English bowling line-up, on which Aussie batters feasted the whole day. Also, Head attacked Stokes to get two more boundaries. No English bowler had an answer to the carnage of Head. His partner Cummins, who was playing second fiddle till now, caught by Haseeb Hameed at leg-slip, off the bowling his counterpart Joe Root. Head completed his third Test century off just 85 balls by hitting a boundary towards deep mid-wicket.
England side looked all frustrated by this counterpunch knock of Head. Soon after, Wood produced a straight beamer towards the throat of the Head, which smashed the chin of the batter after brushing gloves. Head fell on the pitch immediately physio rushed to check on him, though Head looked fine to resume the game after a few minutes. Umpires announced Stumps after 84 overs in the innings. Australia scoreboard read 343 for 7, Travis Head and Mithcell Starc were unbeaten on 112 and 10.
What Lies Ahead
Australia already took the lead of 196 runs over visitors on the second day of the match. Aussies would like to extend the lead over 250 runs before putting the latter to bat. On the other end, England would like to take three wickets and put some runs on board.
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