Adelaide, Dec 18: Nathan Lyon took two wickets to move past Glenn McGrath for second place on Australia’s all-time bowling list, and returning skipper Pat Cummins took his first wickets of the series as a relentless bowling attack kept England in trouble in the third Ashes test.
Australia resumed Day 2 at 326-8 and was all out for 371 with Mitchell Starc posting a half-century before Jofra Archer finished off the tailenders to return 5-53, his fourth five-wicket haul in test cricket.
By stumps, England had struggled to 213 for eight, still 158 behind.
England was coasting at 37-0 in reply until Cummins struck. Lyon then took two wickets in his first over as England lost three wickets in 15 balls.
It was a struggle the rest of the day for England, which needs to bat long to revive its chances in this five-test series on a pitch and conditions that traditionally favor batting on Day 2 at the Adelaide Oval.
Compounding that, the Australian bowlers and fielders spent most of the day in the field in temperatures hitting 40C (104F).
Skipper Ben Stokes had to endure the heat to lift his lineup, appearing to struggle with cramping after four hours at the crease. His mood wasn’t helped by more contentions outcomes from the Decision Review System technology.
But his stubborn, unbeaten 45 from 151 balls and his unbroken 45-run stand with No. 10 Archer (30) helped England survive the last 13 overs Thursday.
Early wickets
Cummins missed the eight-wicket wins in Perth and Brisbane, which gave Australia a 2-0 series lead, while he recovered from a back injury. In his first spell back, he dismissed opener Zak Crawley (9) to trigger a top-order slide.
Lyon was introduced for the 10th over and the 38-year-old offspinner had immediate success with two wickets in four balls to remove Ollie Pope (3) and Ben Duckett (29) as England slumped to 42-3.
He had Pope caught by a diving Josh Inglis at midwicket to equal retired paceman McGrath’s career haul of 563 test wickets.
On the last ball of that over, Lyon enticed Duckett to play the wrong line to a drifting delivery that took out off stump. TV coverage showed McGrath in a stadium commentary booth pretending to throw a chair around in mock annoyance.
Only the great Shane Warne — with 708 wickets in 145 tests from 1992-2007 — is above Lyon on the Australia’s list of test wicket-takers.
It was a huge return for Lyon, who only bowled two overs in Perth and was omitted from the lineup that won the second test in Brisbane.
He bowled 22 overs across Day 2 and returned 2-51. Cummins had 3-54, Scott Boland returned 2-31. Starc, the leading wicket-taker in the series, had 0-54 from 12 overs.
Stokes innings
England needs victory in Adelaide to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes, and is relying on a big performance from Stokes to achieve it.
He weathered all kinds of pressure after going to the crease at 71-4 just after the lunch interval when Cummins dismissed Joe Root. Stokes was hit on the side of the helmet as he tried to turn his head away from a short-pitch ball from Starc that was traveling at 145 kph (90 mph). A thick inside edge onto his thigh had him hopping around on 41, too, just before the end of play.
Consistent wickets
Cameron Green struck on his third delivery to end a 56-run fifth-wicket stand, getting the edge of Harry Brook’s bat with a ball that moved away from the right-hander.
Brook scored 45 from 63 before he was out in the 37th over, adding just one run after getting a reprieve when he was given out caught behind off Lyon’s bowling but successfully reviewed the decision with the TV umpire.
DRS
There were more dramas with the DRS technology, on top of the contentious review on Wednesday that gave Australia’s Alex Carey a reprieve on 72 on the way to his first Ashes century.
Jamie Smith was on 16 when he appeared to glove a catch to Usman Khawaja in the slips. On-field umpires referred the catch to the TV umpire, who ruled it didn’t hit the glove or the bat before hitting the helmet and ricocheting to slips. The Australians were in disbelief. One of the players said the “snicko needs to be sacked.”
A call went against England when Cummins got a slight edge from the toe end of Smith’s bat as it carried to Carey. The on-field umpire gave it out, confirmed by the TV umpire despite a seemingly indecisive spike as the ball went past the bat. (AP)
