England ended Tuesday on February 220 as Joe Root set a new record and led an incredible comeback fight to keep Ashes hope alive.
That’s better.
Joe Root and Dawid Malan forged a wonderful partnership that ultimately brought joy and fun to England in the First Test.
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At the end of Tuesday, the pair added 159 for the third game and reduced Australia’s lead to a manageable 58 runs.
England have spent two days of honing and humiliation but now they believe they can get away with a draw – or maybe even force a sensational victory.
Captain Source, who sat out for a duck in England’s miserable first inning for a total of 147 games, thrashed out brilliantly and continued his remarkable form into 2021.
He became England’s all-time leading scorer in Test Cricket in a calendar year, surpassing Michael Vaughan’s total of 1,481 in 2002.
Root finished Tuesday on the 86th not out and had two other test matches to add to his total. He’s on the verge of his seventh Test of the Year century.
Malan was called back in the summer for his first Test appearance in three years. England wants him in Australia because his style of play is suitable for faster and faster pitches.
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Although not as safe as Root, Malan played well and his footwork and steering against Nathan Lyon’s loss of the ball were particularly eye-catching. He will continue on Wednesday with 80 people not going out.
The longer they fought, the fewer warnings Malan and Root encountered. The serves don’t often have leaps but generally the ground is stable and the Australian pitchers become less of a threat as the ball eases away.
And one of their key pitchers, Josh Hazlewood, was only eliminated eight out of 70 and appears to be struggling with injury.
David Warner had to leave the field in pain with bruised ribs after being attacked by Ben Stokes in his 94th half of the second day. An X-ray showed no fracture but Warner is said to have experienced significant discomfort.
The start of the day continued to go well with Australia’s will as faster runs brought their first run total to 425 – and a lead of 278 runs.
Travis Head extended his fairy innings to 152 and got helpful point runs from Mitchell Starc, who contributed 35 into his eighth game of 85.
Stokes crouched three times on Tuesday morning, which suggests that the wrench in his left knee that he suffered the day before didn’t inconvenience him too much.
Spinner Jack Leach had 102 runs in just 13 laps and won an unexpected record – fastest person to concede a century running in the Ash Test.
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Leach’s 100th run went from 12.1 overs – even a pound more than previous record holder Brett Lee, who conceded a ton from 14.2 overs at Edgbaston in 2005.
Rory Burns was in a king pair after being knocked out by the first ball of the series 48 hours earlier.
And he’s clearly nervous – he hasn’t faced England’s first serve for the first time in his Test career.
But he couldn’t get away from the music for long.
On the third ball, Burns was handed over to Starc by referee Paul Reiffel. But Burns examined and tracked the ball and showed it to have passed the tip of the tree.
However, Surrey’s left-hander couldn’t capitalize, and at number 13 fell behind a snorkel from Pat Cummins for the first time after lunch.
Haseeb Hameed looked comfortable for the second time in the game but again couldn’t get past the 20s when he put gloves on his feet in the match against Starc.
The Australian reconsidered a catch behind as Malan scored 16. HotSpot was inconclusive – although it suggested that Malan failed to dribble – but Real Time Snicko was unavailable for a more definitive verdict. .
The explanation was that the gizmo was broken and that due to Covid border restrictions in Queensland, no one could be sent to fix it.
With the automatic shadowless detector also malfunctioning, it’s not a good game for tech. It’s Ashes, for goodness’ sake. This stuff should be sorted.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/16997231/england-australia-cricket-joe-root-ashes/ England ended Tuesday on February 220 as Joe Root set a new record and led an incredible comeback fight to keep Ashes hope alive.
