LONDON :Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put on 91 to continue England’s Ashes fightback as they reached 145-1 at tea on the second day of the second test on Thursday after mopping up the final five wickets to bowl Australia out for 416.
Australia’s Steve Smith, who began the day on 85 not out, notched up his 32nd test century before departing for 110 as they added only 77 runs with England’s attack enjoying a lively first 90 minutes after being dominated on the opening day.
England’s opening pair then revelled in excellent afternoon batting conditions to produce the team’s best Ashes opening partnership for 13 years before Crawley was stumped wildly charging Nathan Lyon for a run-a-ball 48.
Duckett was on 62 having reached an extraordinary milestone for an opener of facing 100 balls in the series without deliberately leaving one, with Ollie Pope, who barely fielded on Wednesday after injuring his shoulder, not out on 32.
On an overcast morning England’s attack looked much more purposeful than 24 hours earlier and Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson quickly removed Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc.
However, Smith, who on Wednesday became the fourth Australian to pass 9,000 runs, pressed on in his usual relentless manner to remain a thorn in England’s side.
He brought up his 32nd test 100 with a punchy cover drive but was out for 110 via a superb catch by Duckett at second slip to give Josh Tongue his third wicket.
Captain Pat Cummins, who batted superbly to bring Australia home in the first test, again looked assured to end unbeaten on 22 and, though he will be delighted with his team’s tally, it represented something of a tail off from when they were seemingly cruising at 316-3 on Wednesday afternoon.
England set about their reply at a positive pace, scoring at almost five an over for the entire post-lunch session and generally looking untroubled.
After years of struggling to find a productive opening partnership, Crawley and Duckett are not only bedding in together but are scoring quickly, their partnership being England’s best since their last world class opening pair of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook put on 98 in Sydney in 2011.
Crawley looked particularly dominant with his trademark classy drives and seemed set for a 50 before what looked a pre-meditated advance left him way out of his ground as Lyon spun it past him and Carey cleanly stumped him.
Though pundits were quick to criticise what they considered something of an unnecessary sacrifice, captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendan McCullum will undoubtedly see things differently and be delighted at the flying start he gave the team.
Pope came in and, while surviving a couple of edges, maintained the momentum, with Starc coming in for some sustained punishment as he went for 28 in two overs and conceded 55 in the seven he bowled.
There was a nice touch approaching tea as Strauss received a standing ovation as he walked round the ground resplendent in a red suit to mark “Red for Ruth” day.
Thousands of fans were also wearing red as part of a huge fundraising effort for the charitable foundation in the name of the former captain’s wife who died from lung cancer in 2018 at the age of 48.
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