Ashes 2010: England make a steady start; James Anderson responsible for worst Test start by an Australian side in 60 years
England’s cricket team is living up to the boasts it made at the beginning of the decorated Ashes series this year. After playing very well in the first Test to end it in a draw, the English team bowled and fielded their hearts
out on the opening day of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval. The Oval is revered as a Mecca for cricket-lovers and as a batting haven for batsmen. However, the batting part at least seemed not to ring true today as the Australian side’s batting line-up
failed to capitalize on good conditions.
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting won the toss and decided to bat. He backed his decision to bat with the weather – it was a fine, sunny morning at about 34 degrees Celsius – and hoped that Australia would be able to post a challenging
total.
Conditions were indeed favourable for batting, but the English bowlers would have other plans. James Anderson proved that he is a class act with the capability to rip through any batting attack without any problems whatsoever.
Thanks to him, the second Ashes Test match marked the worst Test start by an Australian side in 60 years.
The day started with Simon Katich getting involved in a comical run-out. The most ironic thing was that Katich did not get a chance to face a single delivery and returned to the pavilion without disturbing the score. Ponting then
arrived at the crease and got out for a golden duck – something we don’t see often from him. Vice captain Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 also got out after scoring only two runs. Both the Australian captain and vice captain fell victim to the marvellous bowling attack of
James Anderson. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 were suddenly 2-3, and Australian supporters were shell-shocked.
Michael Hussey and Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 then steadied the sinking Australian innings. Hussey with his anchor-like performance and swift running between the wickets brought back memories of the great Michael Bevan. This was Hussey’s second
outstanding innings in the Ashes. The first time, he narrowly missed out on completing a double-century. This time, he was just a few runs shy of a century. Hussey scored 93 runs, including eight boundaries. Shane Watson scored 51 runs, including seven boundaries
and a six. Hussey was also supported by Marcus North who scored 26. Brad Haddin also played a fine innings of 56. The tail-end did not score much and the home side lost all its wickets for a small total of 245.
Anderson was the pick of the bowlers, with four wickets to his name. Graeme Swann, the English spin magician, took two wickets. Stuart Broad and Steven Finn took one wicket each.
After Australia’s innings, England batted for one over before they called it a day. Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook are at the crease. The only score so far was one leg-bye.
Here is a brief match summary:
England: 1 for 0 (Strauss 0*, Cook 0*, lb 1) trail Australia 245 (Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Watson 51, Anderson 4-51) by 244 runs.
Umpires: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754; Billy Doctrove from Dominica (third umpire).
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