Aussie cricket great David Warner expressed that he was absolutely baffled by England’s tactics late on day 1 of the 2nd Ashes Test in Brisbane.
Joe Root’s breakthrough ton in Australia, coupled with some scintillating late hitting, left England in a very comfortable & strong position at stumps on day 1 of the 2nd Ashes Test at the Gabba.
After England’s skipper, Ben Stokes, won the toss and elected to bat, regular wickets fell for the visiting tourists, aided by Australian Mitchell Starc’s sensational bowling display, repeated with a 6 for 71 haul, with England reaching 9 for 325 at stumps.
Just before the opening ball, Nathan Lyon was left out, being dropped for the second Test to coincide with Australia opting to select an all-pace lineup with the addition of Michael Neser, while Pat Cummins fell short in his bid to play.
Starc’s 2 late wickets left England reeling at 9 for 264 during a more traditional day of Test cricket. Everyone was expecting England to declare, forcing Australia’s fragile top order to face a challenging spell under the lights with the pink ball.
In a decision that left Aussie cricket great David Warner absolutely baffled in the Fox commentary box, Root (135 not out) and number 11, Jofra Archer (32 not out), kept batting and produced a swashbuckling half-century partnership to take their score past a modest 300.
The English team will be back in the middle by Friday afternoon, hoping to add to their total before Australia gets its first chance with the willow.
In a moment of madness, Josh Inglis threw down the stumps on a rather tough angle, running Stokes out. During this time, Alex Carey excelled with his wicketkeeping for Australia.
Root finally secured his maiden ton in Australia, while Zak Crawley (76) bounced back from his consecutive twin ducks in Perth, maintaining his position at the top of the order. This was the only other half-century to date for England.
Barring another mind-melting day 2, this test looks poised to push well past the 48-hour mark, with the hosts now needing to bat well after romping to victory in the series opener.
England’s decision to bat until late in its innings has been vindicated with an unbeaten half-century partnership between Joe Root and Jofra Archer, leaving the tourists in a strong position at stumps.
Instead of subjecting Australia to a tricky late session under Gabba’s lights, Root & Archer opted to smash the Aussie attack to all parts of the ground, as the English team raced past 300.
Root became the man of the hour with his unbeaten 135, which included a 6 besides 15 boundaries. This occurred while Mitchell Starc captured 6 wickets for the hosts.
With clear skies expected to draw warm conditions on Friday, Australia was expected to have plenty of work to do with the bat whenever England’s 10th wicket pairing falls.
It’s widely accepted that the closing hour of the cricket under lights with the pink ball is probably the best time to bowl, although it can be a challenging time to bat.
So England’s decision to bat until late on day 1 has come under a fierce examination from Brett Lee, Warner, and Brendon Julian in the Fox cricket commentary box.
Warner was cited to have uttered that he was absolutely baffled. He went on to state that statistics prove, besides reflecting, that the hardest time to bat is under lights, when facing a brand new cricket ball. Warner added that what he was witnessing was remarkable. He asked if Jofra Archer would prefer the brand-new ball in his hand now rather than with a beaming sun tomorrow.
