The third Test of the Ashes series is being played at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne. Today is the second day of the Boxing Day Test. On the first day, Australia bundled out England for 185 runs on the basis of 3-3 wickets from captain Pat Cummins and spinner Nathan Lyon. Australia had scored 61 for one by the end of the day’s play. Marcus Harris (20*) and nightwatchman Lyon (0*) started today’s game.
Warner out for 38
Opener David Warner (38) returned to the pavilion in the final moments of the day after a reliable start. James Anderson (1 for 14) was caught by Jock Crawley while he was down in the lane.
The thrill of England’s first innings
Earlier, Cummins (3 for 36) won the toss and elected to field first, while spinner Lyon (3 for 36) wrapped up the lower order. Mitchell Starc took two wickets for 54 runs while Cameron Green and Scott Boland, playing his first Test match, got a wicket each. England did not have a good start and by lunch they had scored 61 runs for three wickets.
After this, England also lost three wickets in the second session, including the wickets of captain Joe Root (50) and the dangerous Ben Stokes (25). Australia continued their dominance in the third session with their remaining four wickets. The game started half an hour late due to rain. Cummins got Haseeb Hameed (nil) caught by wicketkeeper Alex Carey in the second over.
After this, Cummins caught the second opener Crowley (12) in the gully in the eighth over to reduce the score to 13 for two. David Malan (14) added 48 runs for the third wicket with captain Joe Root. Cummins got Malan caught by Warner at first slip in the last over before lunch. World No. 2 batsman Root completed his half-century off 76 balls, but soon after, Starc caught Carey on a ball outside off-stump, taking the score to 82 for four.
waiting for recording route
If Root makes 109 runs in England’s second innings, he will become the highest run-scorer in a calendar year. Currently this record is in the name of Mohammad Yusuf of Pakistan who scored 1788 runs in 2006. Root’s total number of runs in the year 2021 increased to 1680 and he has become the captain with the highest run-scorer in a calendar year. Root surpassed South Africa’s Graeme Smith (1656 runs in 2008).
Stokes tried to adopt an aggressive approach but after cutting Green’s ball, he caught it in the street. Jos Buttler (3) caught at deep midwicket after playing an irresponsible shot off Lyon in the last over before the tea break. Boland, who made his Test debut at his home ground, took his first wicket by dismissing Mark Wood (six) lbw. Jonny Bairstow, after scoring 35 runs, was caught in the street by Starc. Lyon dismissed the tail batsmen Jack Leach (13) and Ollie Robinson (22). Australia are currently leading 2-0 in the five-match series.
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