England declared the first innings after yet another mammoth score of 620 runs in their first innings of the second Ashes Test match at Adelaide.
It was Alistair Cook who yet again proved to be dangerous for Australia after making another century in the second match. The return to form of the England batsman Kevin Pietersen also put Australia on the back foot.
It was another demanding day of cricket for Australia. England expanded the first innings lead to 375 runs after some good batting performances from the middle order. Kevin Pietersen got out early on Monday but Ian Bell and Matt Prior helped England pass
600 runs. Ian Bell ended up on an unbeaten 68 when the innings were declared by the English Captain. Matt Prior also chipped in with a handy 27 off just 21 balls.
For the Australian team, the bowlers were disappointing yet again. Ryan Harris was the best off all the bowlers by a big margin. He grabbed a couple of wickets and was economical. He could have had a few more wickets easily with some of the best spells bowled
in the match. He was unfortunate as he had no support from the rest of the bowlers.
Peter Siddle, Xavier Doherty and Doug Bollinger were below par in the match. They gave away too many runs without picking up many wickets. Bollinger and Doherty claimed one wicket each and the exceptional performer in the first Test match for Australia,
Peter Siddle was out of sorts. He remained wicket less for the second innings in a row.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 needed to start the innings well to save the match. The openers did a very decent start by giving an 84-run stand for the first wicket. Simon Katich was the first man to be dismissed on 43 runs. He was again unable to convert his start into a big
innings. The down fall of Katich brought the Australian skipper to the crease. Ricky Ponting has a very good record in Adelaide but he was unable to impress for the second time in a row.
Ponting failed to go into the double figures and was out for just nine runs making things worse for the team. This was another failure for the Australian Captain after he had scored a duck in the first innings. Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 went onto making a half century
but was also unable to capitalise on his start. He got out on 57. Australia lost three of their top order batsmen for 134 making it difficult for their lower order.
It was Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey who saw their team through the difficult time. Both the players shared a century stand to give hopes to their side of saving the match. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, who has been struggling for runs, scored a fighting 80 but was dismissed
in the last over of the day.
Australia will start day 5 with the hope of saving the match with Michael Hussey and Marcus North who is due to come in next. Hussey remained not out for 44 runs at the close of play. Australia would hope that he continues his good form and saves the match
for them. The team will require some runs from Marcus North as well who has struggled for runs in the recent months.
For England, it was their spinner Graeme Swann who was impressive. He grabbed two of the four wickets to fall. He was also well supported by Steve Finn who bowled some impressive spells in the day. The surprise though came from Kevin Pietersen who got the
wicket of Michael Clarke in the last over of the day.
It will be a hard day for Australia on Tuesday. They would have had a better day if Michael Clarke remained unbeaten alongside Michael Hussey. The Australian team will now look up to Hussey and North to save the match. The weather might also come for Australia’s
help but England will look to warp up the Australian middle order as soon as possible and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
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