Ashes Series as Australia Once Again Dominated
The second day in Sydney followed a blueprint similar to other days in the Ashes series as Australia once again dominated. Under the guidance of Usman Khawaja’s 137 on his return to the team, Australia piled on 416 before declaring late in the day on Thursday (January 6).
Warner was Dismissed in The Slips :-
England had five overs to watch before stumps and would have lost Jack Crawley, who had dismissed David Warner at slips, had Mitchell Starc not overstepped in his delivery stride. In the end, the England opener escaped with the requisite overs to finish on 13/0.
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Usman Khawaja reached a century in the last over before tea and formed an easy partnership with Pat Cummins. The captain fell early as Australia crossed 330, but a very dynamic stand between Khawaja and Mitchell Starc caused Australia to cross 400.
He took the bad deliveries and saw the good ones. Khawaja cut Stuart Broad to take five wickets in another Test. It was the first half-century by an England bowler in this series. How many more runs can Australia get? Start 34 and Lyon remained unbeaten on 16, hitting two fours and a six.
England performed brilliantly with the new ball in the middle session, taking three wickets. If England had called the shots for the first half of the session, Australia would have picked up the pace towards the end, thanks to a clinical Usman, who scored his ninth Test century.
The English Bowler Alive After Lunch :-
The English bowlers, who looking flat in the first session, were alive after lunching. led by Broad, who was at the top of the line. He troubling Steve Smith several times in the sixth over. After the break and then broke the 115-run stand by being catching for 67 runs.
Mark Wood bowled with a lot of steam but success could not be found as Australia marched towards the 300-run mark with Usman Khawaja set at the crease.
It was a fine innings from Khawaja, who would have been happy to score a century on his return. He scored from the time he was dropped in the Sheffield Shield and made the most of it when he presented himself. Joe should have brought himself first with a left-hander in the middle but lets Usman go.
Taking a fine catch behind midwicket, he struck immediately, ending Carey’s contest with Jonny Bairstow. Cummins took 22 deliveries to get off the mark but hit back-to-back boundaries against David Malan to push Australia’s total forward.
The Four Interruptions in the Morning Session :-
The rain made headlines in the morning convention with four interruptions, while Mizal’s extra-long break was not expected. England had their tail up at the end of Day 1, but Australia did some decent work in the opening hour to keep the visitors at bay.
They bowled good length and line, but none of the bowlers created opportunities or looked likely to threaten Smith and Khawaja, who looked through a test phase where runs were coming on a trickle.
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Tactically, England was also very good for most parts of the convention. Jack Leach could have had more campaigns with the England spinner setting up the defensive zone.
However, he was the only one who gave England a breakthrough opportunity, scoring 28 off Khawaja’s glove, but Joe Root was a little late to react and put him in the slips.
Brief Score:- Australia 416/8 Dec. (Marcus Harris 38, Steve Smith 67 and Usman Khawaja 137, Mitchell Starc 34*; Stuart Broad 5-101) and took England 13/0 by 403 runs.