Australia ended the second day of the fourth Ashes Test on 242-7 still trailing by 90 runs. Ben Stokes was the star of the day as he ran through the Australian batting order with a spirited and world-class bowling performance. He hasn’t had a great Ashes series with the ball so far, picking up only two wickets until today, but he proved his detractors wrong by picking up a 5-wicket haul and England on the cusp of regaining the Ashes.
When the day began, Australia were in doldrums and England were very much on the front foot having taken a lead of 214 on as early as the first day. An unbelievable day of cricket yesterday saw Australia bulldozed for 60 by Stuart Broad before Joe Root and Jonathan Bairstow made it even more painful by putting up a wonderful 173-run stand to stamp England’s authority. England started well early on Day 2 with nightwatchman Mark Wood confidently putting away full deliveries from Mitchell Johnson to the cover boundary. The real threat, however, was posed by Mitchell Starc who has been the only Aussie to hit the correct lines and lengths on this surface. The sustained pressure bore fruit when Root edged one angling away from him to the keeper to be dismissed for a chanceless 130.
Starc completed a six-fer when he bowled Mark Wood and Jos Buttler with fast in swingers to give Australia a hope of bowling the hosts before lunch on Day 1. Jos Buttler’s lean series with the bat continued and Stokes soon followed him back to the pavilion when he nicked one going down leg off Josh Hazlewood. Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad shared a compelling stand for the ninth wicket and thoroughly perturbed the Australian bowlers with their ploy of striking over the infield with both Starc and Hazlewood looking to pitch the ball further up and hoping to extract swing. An over after Ali’s dismissal, Cook declared the innings at innings at 391/9 and a handsome lead of 331. Mitchell Starc salvaged his best Test figures of 6 for 111 from a match that otherwise has provided unrelenting obscurity for Australia. With about fifteen minutes to go for lunch, it was seen as a really proactive move by Captain Cook.
Australia began their second innings with a deficit of 331 runs, and the worrying likelihood of a two-day defeat, as England threaten to regain the Ashes with almost no competition at Trent Bridge. There was still some cloud cover around to leave the England bowlers restless to get a grab of the cherry a second time around and extend their domination. Stuart Broad passed David Warner’s outside edge four times in the final over before lunch, without being successful and Australia went into lunch with a massive task in their hands.
When Australia returned from lunch, they looked a bit tentative as expected. Both Warner and Rogers picked up a couple of boundaries driving through the cover region as Broad, Wood and Finn bowled fuller lines. Broad’s persistence with that round-the-wicket strategy to Warner paid off when he had the batsmen nicking one to first slip. Unfortunately for England, who took every chance that came their way yesterday, Alastair Cook dropped this one moving to his left. After being embarrassed in the first innings, Australia came up with a resolutely better performance in the second innings as openers Warner and Rogers completed a century partnership. What followed was disaster for Australia. England exploded through Australia’s second innings in a spectacular way just prior to tea on the second day at Trent Bridge, getting 4 for 23 after Rogers and Warner had ridden their good fortune to post an opening stand of 113.
Ben Stokes initiated this remarkable collapse and shaped a terrific spell of 3 for 4 in 13 balls, commencing with Rogers being excellently caught at slip by Joe Root. Stokes, who didn’t have a great deal of bowling to do in the last Ashes Test, then removed Warner with a top-edge into the leg side and Shaun Marsh was the third to go when he pushed hard at a delivery outside off stump and was caught in the slip-cordon to become the Stokes’ third victim. Off the very next ball, in the next over, Steven Smith had a crack by playing a flamboyant drive off Stuart Broad and was caught at short-point. After a century opening stand, Australia headed into to tea at 138 for 4 with Michael Clarke and Voges at the crease.
Soon after the third session began, Clarke plodded his way through to 13 off 37 balls before being caught by Bell off Mark Wood. Peter Nevill joined Voges at the crease and those two delayed the inevitably by showing some sturdy resistance and built a partnership of 50 before Nevill was caught plumb in front by Stokes, once again. Mitchell Johnson was caught at slip by Cook and soon the umpires decided to call it a day as light wasn’t good enough for play to continue.
