England in full control of fifth Ashes Test in Sydney
England amassed a mammoth 644 runs in reply to Australia’s first innings total of 280. Australia were left with no hope of a win, but they can still draw the match if they bat well. The hosts managed to reach 77 runs for the loss of two
wickets until tea.
The English team started the day with 488 runs on the board and seven wickets down. The overnight unbeaten batsmen Tim Bresnan and Matt Prior started the day for England with a century partnership. Bresnan was out after scoring 35, but he provided
solid support to Prior, who went onto complete his century. This was the third century of the innings for England, after Alistair Cook and Ian Bell also scored hundreds.
Prior’s wicket fell soon after the departure of Bresnan, but off-spinner Graeme Swann took the innings total to 644, with his quick-fire 36 off just 26 balls. Swann remained unbeaten until the end of the innings.
The Australian bowlers yet again struggled to bowl out the visitors early. Mitchell Johnson was expensive, but he picked-up four wickets in the innings. While Ben Hilfenhaus took three wickets. However, the other bowlers were not able to make a big
impact on the match.
The Australian innings started with runs coming off the bat of Shane Watson. He attacked the English bowlers, while his partner Philip Hughes was defending the ball. Watson was unfortunate when he was run-out on 38 runs off just 40 balls. He struck
seven fours in his innings and was looking very positive.
When Watson got out, the total was 46. Hughes wasn’t able to resist any longer, as he departed just six runs after the dismissal of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326. Hughes only scored 13 runs off 58 balls. He has not been able to make the best of his opportunity to open the
innings after replacing the injured Simon Katich. Hughes failed to impress the selectors on his return to the national team.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Usman-Khawaja-c2729 at the crease. Both batsmen took the score to 77 before the tea break. There will be pressure on both these players to perform in this innings if Australia
are to harbour any hopes of saving the match.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 will be under pressure, as he has been unable to perform in this series, and is also the captain for this match. On the other hand, Khawaja missed out in the first innings after he got a good start, and will also be looking forward to make most
of this second opportunity and save the match for his team.
Bresnan picked up a wicket for England, while the other wicket came through a run-out.
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