Rain stopped play as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Usman-Khawaja-c2729 lost his wicket
Rain stopped play yet again at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Last time it poured down, it was Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 who was dismissed just moments before and this time it came down after the dismissal of debutant Usman Khawaja.
Australia started the play at 111 for the loss of two wickets and the match looked evenly poised at that stage. After just adding two runs, the Australian team lost their captain Michael Clarke. He didn’t manage to add any runs to his total of four, which
he scored before tea.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 looked positive as he played some good drives in his very short innings but his promising start was not good enough for his team. He cut one ball hard straight to the hands of James Anderson who didn’t make any mistake.
The ball was cut right of the middle of the bat but it was not played along the ground which cost Clarke his wicket.
Khawaja was then joined by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746’s leading run scorer in this year’s Ashes Michael Hussey. Both the batsmen looked good in the middle and played some nice shots.
Khawaja had one nervy moment when there was a loud appeal by the English bowlers for a caught behind. Anderson thought that he had his man but the replays suggested that the ball didn’t touch the bat. Andrew Strauss decided against taking the review which
was the correct decision in the end.
Graeme Swann was introduced into the attack and Khawaja tried some improvisation against the spinner. He defended a couple of balls and then advanced down the track to drive him but he played a costly sweep shot on the last ball of the over. The ball ballooned
in the air and eventually landed in the hands of Jonathan Trott.
Tim Bresnan added one more wicket to his name as he dismissed Clarke after the rain delay. The other bowler who took a wicket was Swann. He has a reputation of picking up wickets in his first over of a spell and he lived up to that this time around as well.
Play is unlikely to resume and England have the upper hand at this stage. Australia will be hoping that Hussey gets the team out of trouble yet again and help the team reach a decent first innings total.
Tags: