Ashes 2021-22: Australia v England second Test, day three – live! | Sport

54th over: England 158-4 (Stokes 0, Pope 1) Pretty shrewd of Smith to bring Green off for a bit and bring back Starc. Malan has thrown away his century and this day has completely turned within about 15 minutes. What two quickfire wickets can do. Australia are back in control here. Pope steals a risky single off Starc, the only run for the over.

53rd over: England 157-4 (Stokes 0, Pope 0) Stokes leaves a wide ball as Lyon comes around the wicket. Now he’s beaten as the ball spins well off the bounce.

“Good morning Emma,” says Brian. “Well that didn’t take very long for my euphoria at waking to a wicketless opening session to disappear ‘like tears in the rain’. Time to die, as Roy Batty would say, or can Stokes replicate the form of yore?”

52nd over: England 157-4 (Stokes 0, Pope 0) All over, red rover. Pope is in the hot seat and survives a Starc inswinger to complete a dramatic over.

Green has been brought off and Starc is now inswinging hard to Malan, who blocks this with authority but has been lacking a little in composure compared to the last session? Am I imagining this? Maybe, as Starc gifts him a shot, wide-ish one for him have some fun with for a four. Oh and he’s out! The very next ball! He tries for the same shot as the one that got him that boundary but he’s nicked a nice, full delivery and Smith is right where he needs to be in the slips.

51st over: England 153-3 (Malan 76, Stokes 0) Malan breaks the drought, outsmarting Lyon’s bounce and turn that is looking very nice, and edges for two runs.

50th over: England 150-3 (Malan 73, Stokes 0) Stokes is dancing on his funky feet, shuffling and shifting against the ferocity of Green. He starts running for a single, is called back in the nick of time, defends, digs out a yorker, pulls, drives, for no return. That’s six Australian maidens now.

49th over: England 150-3 (Malan 73, Stokes 0) Lyon bowls Australia fifth consecutive maiden. They’re not bleeding runs and have ensured Root STILL does not have a Test century in Australia. Is this when the pendulum starts to swing?

48th over: England 150-3 (Malan 73, Stokes 0) Stokes starts by defending, and he’s doing a good job of it. Until, um, he is avoiding a short ball from Green and then swinging back around Matrix-style to have a go at it. He’s confused himself a bit. Green, meanwhile, bowling at 143kph.

47th over: England 150-3 (Malan 73, Stokes 0) What can Ben Stokes bring to the table? He’ll have to wait an over to find out because Malan is spending this one drifting, edging and floating for no runs off Lyon.

46th over: England 150-3 (Malan 73, Stokes 0) There has been a hint of something coming for a couple of overs. A small whiff of discomfort on the batters’ part and Green went for blood here. A delivery not completely unlike Root’s last close call and he gets enough of an edge that it pings behind him to first slip where Smith is waiting for the regulation catch. That’s a big wicket.

Root edges behind to first slip and it’s all over red rover for the England captain! What was I just saying about a breakthrough?

45th over: England 150-2 (Malan 73, Root 62) Maiden over for Lyon to Malan, but Australia still don’t have a breakthrough. If they can jag one wicket they might just start to work their way down the order.

Christina writes in: “I bet Australia are regretting the fact that they declared now! Could prove to be a costly mistake…”

44th over: England 150-2 (Malan 73, Root 62) Green has the ball in hand and he almost, almost has Root right where he wants him. His delivery has a little bit of lift as Root appears indecisive about whether to have a go at it or not. He makes the – late– call to leave it and only just gets away with it.

43rd over: England 148-2 (Malan 72, Root 61) Lyon has a crack now, and we are edging towards the part of the day when he may be used more often. He has Malan slicing the ball slightly skyward in a fashion that it drops just a little out of reach of a hovering Green. Two balls later, though, he pounces on a shorter delivery and cuts away a four to backward point.

42nd over: England 144-2 (Malan 68, Root 61) We are back after dinner, or afternoon tea, or breakfast – depending where you are in the world. Green is on the attack first and it only takes Root four balls to bring up the first four of the session. He plays it late, opens his face only ever so slightly and threads a sliver of space between slip and gully.

There are a few England fans on the email and Twitter doing that England fan thing.

“Listen,” writes Ben, “its the hope that kills you. After lunch, the first over will result in 6 wickets and we’ll follow on for a combined total of 300. Anything better is a bonus.”

In the final overs of that session Root surpassed 1,600 runs this calendar year. He is currently on 1,601, which means he has eclipsed Michael Clarke’s 1,595 and now has Graeme Smith (1,656 runs in 2008) in his sights.

It seems an obvious question, but how much are Australia missing Cummins and Hazlewood right now? The ball was relatively new and yet the pace attack has still been left wanting. Not a criticism of Neser and Richardson et al, just an observation.

“This is a much better start to the weekend than many of us expected,” writes Guy, who is presumably an England supporter. “It’s heartening to see our two best batters fight back. But we’ve been here before, specifically last week, so it’s not just down to them, is it? Ask me again at the close, but I’m praying for 300-2.”

The partnership stands at 128 as Root and Malan head off the pitch and into the tunnel. A light lunch, a snack perhaps, some electrolytes to celebrate Australia’s failure to take a wicket in the first session of day three.

41st over: England 140-2 (Malan 68, Root 57) Wow, that’s close. Richardson beats Root on the inside edge but ball tracking shows it’s bounced over the stumps. Leg bye. It’s time for dinner!

40th over: England 139-2 (Malan 68, Root 57) Root has 23 Test centuries but none of those have come in Australia. Seems absurd, but he could be on track for his first. He inches closer as Green bowls a wee bit short and then a little too full, driving the Australian through point for two and then a cheeky one via a pull shot.

39th over: England 134-2 (Malan 67, Root 53) Dinner is getting closer and England just have to hold firm until then. To wit, Root brings up a four and his half-century – his 52nd in Test cricket and his 15th against Australia. He is going great guns and is seemingly hanging around for a bit.

On the email, Redmeansrun writes in with some Jos Buttler punnage: “We seem to have mislaid your coat sir” Buttler

38th over: England 129-2 (Malan 67, Root 48) Welcome Cameron Green. What have you got? Can you give this sauce bottle a shake? Good length and no runs from his opening three balls to Malan, until the length isn’t so good and the batter makes hay through midwicket for four.

37th over: England 123-2 (Malan 62, Root 47) Richardson has the toe cut out of left shoe to help with the impact. We are getting close-ups now of Fox of his toe peeping out the front, and laughter from the commentary box. Let’s get the camera back on the action, hey, because Root has just smashes a decisive four to backward square leg.

36th over: England 117-2 (Malan 61, Root 42) A maiden over for Lyon, thank you very much. Bit of overspin, bit of fun twistiness.

35th over: England 117-2 (Malan 61, Root 42) Root hits a single but cops a hit to his thigh. Malan adds a single to point and Malan another to cover. Richardson gets a tiiiiny bit of movement away from Malan. He’s beaten, but notches another single to round out the over.

England have made 11 century partnerships in Tests this year. Nine of those have involved Joe Root and three were the combo of Root and Malan.

They really have left a lot to be desired in this department though:

34th over: England 113-2 (Malan 59, Root 41) Malan puts away a straight-shooter from Lyon and brings up his century partnership with Root, which right now is going some way to closing the hefty deficit. Australia need a wicket or risk being given a taste of their own medicine.

33rd over: England 110-2 (Malan 58, Root 39) Richardson is back in the attack and ships one run to Root. Speaking of Root, he has now surpassed Tendulkar for most Test runs in a calendar year, which is truly, mind-blowingly impressive. He’s close to Clarke now!

1788 – Mohammad Yousuf (2006)
1710 – Viv Richards (1976)
1656 – Graeme Smith (2008)
1595 – Michael Clarke (2012)
1563* – Joe Root (2021)
1562 – Sachin Tendulkar (2010)

32nd over: England 109-2 (Malan 58, Root 38) Lyon gives Malan a freebie with just enough width to drive it through the covers for four.

31st over: England 105-2 (Malan 54, Root 38) Labuschagne, meanwhile, is moving his mouth non-stop – he’s outdoing Warney for laddish commentary at the moment, though seems pretty harmless. Malan brings up three runs and England’s 100 off Neser before Root stands tall on his backfoot for a truly exquisite punch through to the short boundary.

30th over: England 98-2 (Malan 51, Root 34) Lyon is back on the attack, first of Malan, who gets away a single to fine leg, before Root swerves and sweeps the next five for no reward.

29th over: England 97-2 (Malan 50, Root 34) LBW! LBW? Is it? Nesser has bowled to Root and it appears to have struck his pad first. Was in the line of the off-stump? It’s given not out but Smith reviews. He does not get the answer he was looking for as ball tracking shows it skirted over the top of the bails. Great ball though, and it seamed sharply back in at Root. The review overshadowed Malan bringing up his 50.

28th over: England 96-2 (Malan 49, Root 34)

Jim from Dublin has this to say: “I enjoy following the English on their travails in sunnier less hospitable climbs, however, I have a bad feeling Mother Nature may have had enough, and could come to the rescue of the weather beaten lobster laden barmy army, offering 2 draws. 3 losses.”

27th over: England 92-2 (Malan 47, Root 32) Nesser is bowling and Malan picks up a couple of handy runs via fine leg, before popping up a potential gimme for Neser that comes to nothing. He defends, defends, then thumps another to long-on for two.

26th over: England 88-2 (Malan 43, Root 32) Root gets away a superb reverse sweep that seemingly comes from nowhere after almost an over of playing off the back foot to point. This time his weight is over his front knee and his body turning as the ball runs away for a four to deep backward point, evading the fielder who digs up some dirt in his effort to stop it.

“Morning, Emma,” says Darryl from Johannesburg, who is about to criticise Root straight after his fine shot.

“Surveying the England shambles in the series thus far it seems essential to spike Silverwood and replace Root as captain: nice guy, nice with bat in hand, but light in the captaincy department. It’s appalling how Leach has been treated – and deployed. And it’s time the gloves went to a proper keeper like Foakes. It is long overdue to acknowledge the mirage of Buttler turning into an English Adam Gilchrist. The only sadness there is that the question about who is responsible for another Test loss – “Whodunnit?” – won’t be answered by “Buttler done it.”

25th over: England 84-2 (Malan 43, Root 28) Root diverts a full Neser delivery to mid-wicket. Malan gets away (again) with a mistimed drive that skims off his inside edge, but atones at the end of the over with a four that was just breezy to watch. Time for the drinks break, and England will be very happy with the position they are in.

24th over: England 77-2 (Malan 38, Root 26) Four! Almost a six! Lyon bears down on Root but he is in fine touch. He shuffles his feet, then swings his bat through that pink so sweetly it bounces just short of the ropes before hurtling over. Malan follows his captain’s lead with a boundary of his own but is less in control, even though Lyon is clearly unhappy with his away-spinning delivery. Because it was a little short he sort of cuts it up, speculatively, but gets away with it. Still, you have to take it.

23rd over: England 68-2 (Malan 34, Root 21) Neser is finding movement where there is ostensibly no movement to be found. The debutant is having a cracker, a deserved one at that. Not the ideal circumstances under which to get your start but the 31-year-old has taken his opportunity. Root mostly defends, eking only a single out to deep backward point.

22nd over: England 67-2 (Malan 34, Root 20) The new bat appears working a treat but he gets a decent slice of luck after leaning in and trying a sweep shot that catches an edge and pops up into the path of Starc in the outfield, but fortuitously a little to the left.

21st over: England 65-2 (Malan 33, Root 19) Roots makes no runs off Starc’s first four balls but appears to have cracked his bat. There is a brief halt in play as he waits for a replacement to be brought out. He has a choice of two and weighs up both before taking one and marching back to the crease.

Meanwhile, Robert has been wordsmithing at home on a theme of Jos Buttler and has this: “The Buttler did it. No he didn’t!”

20th over: England 65-2 (Malan 33, Root 19) The GOAT is here. Nathan Lyon is here. The commentators are reminding us once again that the spinner used to be a groundskeeper at Adelaide Oval. To be fair, he has 51 wickets at an average of 26 here. Root gently taps his first delivery outside his off-stump, which is how much of his first over goes. Malan is in defence mode.

19th over: England 64-2 (Malan 33, Root 18) Starc is back bowls well wide, which Malan leaves, but follows with an inswinging yorker and then a bouncer for variation. Malan has to hustle to get out of the way.

18th over: England 62-2 (Malan 31, Root 18) Phew! That was close that, but good judgment from the batters as Malan flick Richardson to the right of short cover. The fielder is up for it and hurtles the ball towards – but not directly on target at – the stumps, but Root is home either way. The pair bring up their 50 partnership.

17th over: England 55-2 (Malan 27, Root 15) Starc enjoys a maiden over against Root to wipe away his tears after his opening horror show. To be fair they are not fantastic conditions for him – there’s not much movement happening out there.

Meanwhile, reader Mac Millings clearly still has his head in England’s fielding problems and has selected his all-time Dropped Catch XI:

“Spill AtheyFumble
Mohammad AshSNAFU
Stuart Floor
In-and-outzamam-ul-Haq
Basil “Dolly” D’Oliveira
Jimmy Neeshambles
Miss Lewis
Jos Buttlerfingers
Gimme Anderson
Can’t bat, can’t bowl, can’t Phil DeFreitas”

Can someone please come up with a more original Jos Buttler pun? Please.

16th over: England 55-2 (Malan 27, Root 15) Malan is up and about and on the front foot to drive Richardson to deep extra-cover and make two runs for his troubles. The next delivery, though, is full, and catches his outside edge before pinging away towards Smith at second slip. It bounces just in front of him before he gets low and to the left to stop the ball in its tracks.

15th over: England 51-2 (Malan 24, Root 14) Starc is in the middle for a spell and doesn’t start too well as Malan pumps him for consecutive fours off his first two balls. They are short deliveries, both outside the off stump, and the batter simply lies in wait until he’s ready to cut it away. No run, no run, three (3) runs – a drive wide of mid-off. Very positive signs for England.

14th over: England 40-2 (Malan 13, Root 14) There is a soft appeal from Australia as Richardson hits Malan on the pads – via his bat – that turns into a decidedly loud appeal once Marnus Labuschagne pipes up at third slip. No dice. But Malan is struggling ever so slightly to give himself enough room but oh! As soon as I type this he has leaned in beautifully for a drive that transfers the momentum off Richardson’s full delivery and past mid-off for a four.

13th over: England 35-2 (Malan 8, Root 14) Neser, bowling fuller than England have been, almost grabs a maiden but for one run that Malan glances to long leg. The next half-hour to an hour will be key for these batters, you’d think. Australia will want to strike the top order sooner rather than later or otherwise allow the tourists to settle in and get comfy.

Robert Wilson has written in.

“Greetings from late-night Paris. The Barney Ronay piece is a good one. But it’s a mistake to think he’s not feeling positive. Since yesterday’s play hit that note of tremulous haplessness that England fans know so well, they’ve been feeling absolutely tremendous, like a six year-old on Christmas morning. Their blood-pressure is down, their heart-rates are calming and they’re settling into that usual fug of rueful dismay that they find as cosy and familiar as a pair of old slippers. A score of under 80 is a warm bath to them, an innings defeat a glass of claret. It’s not that they cope well with losing. They evidently preferit.

“Adelaide in 2010 made them fretful and feverish. They liked Mark Ramprakash a lot more than Robin Smith. Look at the BTL comments on today’s reports. Their delight is palpable, a steady drizzle of mulish acceptance, with the odd comfortless and icy joke. And it’s not even a dreary Boycottian Things Were Better In My Day nostalgia. Indeed the only energy the old timers seem to show is to debate whether it was more depressing to be an England fan in the 80s, or 90s, or early 2000s (a couple of haunted veterans still having flashbacks of watching Chris Tavaré or Martin McCague waxed quite heated).
2005 was an outlier (I think they were all drunk). England fans are ****ing loving this.”

12th over: England 34-2 (Malan 7, Root 14) Lovely shot from Root, who opens the face of his bat, stands tall, and slips his shot away through backward point. Richardson’s delivery didn’t move away quite as much as he may have anticipated and Lyon can’t stop it hitting the ropes. He really is a lovely technician, Joe Root.

11th over: England 28-2 (Malan 6, Root 9) Root is showing his class here with a full-faced drive as Neser goes for his leg stump. Malan, facing Nesser, catches the inside edge again and appears as if he can’t quite pick up his feet. He’s lucky again, and makes one run, which is more than he managed from his previous two deliveries. Root is up now and ouch, the delivery rises sharply and kisses his hip.

10th over: England 23-2 (Malan 5, Root 6) To update, there will be 95 overs remaining today. Including this one which starts with Root facing Richardson, who bowls a no ball in his second delivery and is hit for a single by the England captain to cover. And hey, there’s a four to Malan. He got a bit lucky there as Richardson drew an inside edge but got it away.

9th over: England 17-2 (Malan 1, Root 5) Nesser gets us away with Malan in strike. Good length just outside the off stump. Another to round out this over has Malan on the defence.

We are getting close to the start of play now, which has been brought forward by 20 minutes to make up for yesterday’s lost time. The warm-ups are done, which included some keepy uppies, and the players are out in the middle.

Meanwhile, Barney Ronay is back in Blighty and has been feeling a little less positive about England’s performance.

“Detailed analysis shows Australia have been better in three key areas so far: batting, bowling and fielding. Otherwise things have been pretty even. It was at best a flicker of a false dawn. But there was something else here too, a sniff of a more competent timeline; of the series, as they used to say on Bullseye, that you could have had.

These Ashes feel doomed already after a day in which England were reduced to 17 for two, 456 behind. And yet, with all due respect to Australia’s good batting and excellent seam bowling, this has been a case of self-dooming. And self-dooming on two fronts, most obviously the muddled internal management of Chris Silverwood and Joe Root.”

Full article here:

The considered Geoff Lemon had some thoughts on the considered Steve Smith.

“In 2017, Steve Smith began what can now be mapped as his highest batting peak. Three centuries in four Tests while leading a tour of India, a feat no visiting captain has bettered, while holding his team in the series until a final defeat 2-1. Then home for an Ashes series that he opened with a match-winning hundred at Brisbane, followed with a double in Perth, and sealed with a hundred in Sydney, winning 4-0 with 687 runs at an average of over 137. Three months later came the Cape Town sandpaper affair, and his year-long ban ended up being an absence from Test cricket of 16 months.

What has happened since has been the waste of Smith, the squandering by Cricket Australia of their most extraordinary batting talent since Don Bradman.”

Full article here:

If you are still catching up on Friday’s happenings, Ali Martin was at the ground and has your back: