Michael Hussey rescues Australia on second day of Brisbane Test
Michael Hussey scored an unbeaten 81* to place the Aussies in a safe position on the second day of the Gabba Test. Michael Hussey’s innings helped the Aussies to recover from 143-5, and took their total near to England’s first innings total.
Australia still trail by 40 runs and the way Michael Hussey is playing, one feels Australia will pass the English first innings total. Australia managed 220-5 at the end of second day’s play, before rain disrupted the remaining closing over’s of the day.
Australia would still have to bat with responsibility on the third day if they want to take a sufficient lead in the Test match. Australia started confidently, scoring 78 runs without losing any wicket.
However, England fought back by taking 5 Aussie wickets for just 65 runs. It was looked as if Australia might be dismissed for a low score, but the way Hussey played gave a lot of confidence to the Australians. Still a lot of work has to be done for the
Aussies, and if Aussies are able to build a strong partnership than they would definitely gain advantage in the first test.
Australia resumed from their overnight score of 25-0, and they were still trailing by 235 runs. For http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, it was a wonderful opportunity to manage a big score as the pitch had slowed down a bit compared to the first day.
Katich and Watson resumed from their overnight scores and looked good as they played some confident shots. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 played some straight drives off the bowlers and looked in fine touch. Watson was dismissed for 36 off the bowling of Anderson, when he was caught
by Strauss at slip position. He made 36 runs and struck 6 boundaries.
England had a major success when Ricky Ponting was dismissed. It was a careless shot from the Aussie skipper who played a glance down to the leg side, and was easily taken by Matt prior.
Two over’s later, Simon Katich was the next batsman to be dismissed, when he gave a catch to Steven Finn off Finn’s own bowling. These were two soft dismissals in a span of 4 over’s and really gave some bonus wickets to the English bowlers. Katich played
well for his 50 and struck some impressive boundaries.
Australia were in a spot of bother at 100-3. Brief repite was provided by Hussey and Clarke, as they provided a 40 runs partnership for the 4th wicket. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 was shaky in his small innings of 9 and did not manage any boundaries. He was dismissed
by Finn, when he top edged a short ball from Finn and was caught by Matt Prior.
The next over, England got another Aussie wicket when Swann took his first wicket in Australia. North contributed only one run to the total before he was dismissed by Swann. Suddenly, Australia were 143-5 and were in all sorts of trouble.
But they don’t call Michael Hussey Mr. cricket for nothing. He played a dominating knock of 81* to get Australia out of danger. The prime feature of his batting was the fact that he did not allow the bowlers to dictate terms to him. He also played naturally,
responsibly, and attacked the bowlers whenever he got the opportunity.
Hussey played with a lot of maturity and pulled the short balls for runs. The feature of his innings was the fact that he played the off spinner, Graeme Swann, aggressively and struck confident boundaries off his bowling. He pulled Swann impressively and
also hit a six off him.
Hussey’s form was an issue before the series, but the way he played reflected his importance in the Australian side. Another feature of his batting was the fact that he used his feet against Swann quite well and managed to score easy runs off him.
Hussey along with Haddin, batted with a lot of confidence and added 77 vital runs for the 6th wicket. Their partnership took the advantage away from England and took Australia to a safe position. England’s bowlers tried their best and did bowl
some decent over’s, but the two Aussie batsmen did not allow the pressure to be build on them.
Hussey struck 13 fours and 1 six in his prolific innings of 81*, and gave a serious message to the opposition. Haddin also provided the much needed support to Hussey, as he managed 22* runs which featured one boundary.
For England, Anderson was the pick of the bowlers as not only did he take 2 wickets but also bowled economically. Finn managed 2 vital wickets but he was expensive in his spell. Hussey played Swann quite well and managed easy runs off him.
At the end of the day’s play, Australia managed 220 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, with Hussey (81*) and Haddin (22*) still at the wicket. Australia would definitely fancy their chances of taking the lead on the third day.
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