Last Updated on 4 months by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Twitter reactions as Australia take 2-0 lead after England fight | Australia take 2-0 lead after winning day/night Test
As expected after dominating the first four days, Australia took a 2-0 series lead to keep one hand firmly on the urn. However, it was quite the fight, with England, courtesy mainly of Jos Buttler, unexpectedly took the match into the final session.
Buttler, who had been enduring a torrid Test with dropped catches and a first innings duck, batted over 200 deliveries to keep England’s hopes of a remarkable draw alive. However, as has been the case right throughout this series, just as England thought they had some hope of a revival, the door slammed shut swiftly; this time in the form of Buttler’s boot treading on the off-stump.
He had support from Chris Woakes (44 off 97 balls) and Ollie Robinson (8 off 39 balls), but there was simply too much time left in the game. Australia kept wheeling away, with Jhye Richardson finishing with his first Test five-wicket haul after player of the match Marnus Labuschange scored his first Ashes hundred earlier in the match.
All in all, it was the perfect return to the captaincy for Steve Smith. Runs, good slip catching, sound tactics and a victory rounded off a fine outing for the stand-in skipper, who had to fill in at the 11th hour as Australia were left without Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Despite that, the Australian attack never let up, with Richardson and Michael Neser filling in nicely alongside fellow pacer Mitchell Starc who bowled as well as he has for a long time.
“Mitchell Starc was exceptional and led the attack really well,” said Smith in the post-match presentation.
“He summed it up quickly, not a great deal of swing so bashed a good length, across the right-handers, in great rhythm and proud of how he went about his business.“
England’s drought in Australia is now 12 Tests spanning nearly 11 years. And, with the way this series is going, it is unlikely that will be broken anytime soon.
