England openers lay solid foundation
Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook mustered a 73-run brilliant opening partnership against Australia, in order to put England in a commanding position at tea, on the second day of the fifth Test match in Sydney. In doing so, they have laid a solid foundation
for the middle order batsmen to capitalize on.
In the start of their innings, the English openers played watchfully in order to negate the opening burst from the Australian bowlers. As the innings progressed, the pair opened up and started playing aggressively to put the opposition bowlers under immense
pressure. Adding to it, their positive intent to score runs freely earned them an impressive run-rate of 4.3 runs per over.
Andrew Strauss, the compact left- hand batsman, was in supreme touch as he started his innings with a series of boundaries. He was particulary severe on anything that was pitched on a shot of length channel. His cut shots on a bouncy wicket were a delight
to watch. Strauss remained unbeaten for his 49-run innings and is looking well settled to rack up a massive score. Amazingly, Strauss collected his runs at a breathtaking strike-rate of over 100, striking 6 crisp boundaries and a towering six.
On the other hand, Alastair Cook was an emblem of patience, as he left every delivery that was pitched outside his off-stump. However, every bad delivery was put away to the boundary. Cook played a sheet anchors role for his team, as his partner was blazing
all guns at the opposition. The England vice-captain will start the proceedings at the socre of 23 runs.
The Australian bowling line-up struggled to make an impact with the red cherry, as all the seam bowlers failed to take a wicket. At the same time, they leaked runs and enabled the opposition to gather their runs quickly.
Earlier, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 posted a competent total of 280 runs on a sporting track at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus mustered a 76-run partnership and in the course of action, steered their team to comfortable position.
The pair joined each other when the home team was stuttering at a modest score of 189 runs for the loss of eight wickets. Johnson racked up a half-century, the only by an Australian in the first innings, while Hilfenhaus valuably supported his partner, scoring
34 runs.
In his brutal display, Johnson collected his 53-runs off just 65 deliveries, and struck five scintillating fours and a massive six.
Bowling for England was superb; the seam bowlers delivered a probing line and length and resultantly, reduced the Kangaroos for a socre of 189/8 in the morning session. The new Kookaburra did the trick for the England bowlers and it moved around in the first
hour.
James Anderson was the pick of the bowlers as he troubled the opposition batsmen with his late movement in the air. Anderson’s persistent swing bowling earned him a tally of 4/66 in a marathon spell of 30 overs.
To everyone’s surprise, Paul Collingwood shared the new-ball with Anderson. As a result, Collingwood brought about the demise of Australia’s best batsman in the series, Michael Hussey. It was a key wicket, as Strauss gambled with the part-time bowler and
it paid off. Apart from the crucial wicket of Hussey, Paul bowled economically, conceding five runs in his tidy spell of four overs.
Tim Bresnan added one more to his overnight tally of two wickets, as he got rid of a dangerous Johnson who was looking to take the game away from the tourists.
The base for England has been solid and they look well settled for a huge first innings total. On the other hand, the Australian bowlers have to provide their team with a couple of breakthroughs in order to restrict the opponents to a modest score.
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