Australia - 1st Innings - 128 (53.3 overs)
England - 2nd Innings - 349/7d (114.1 overs)
Australia - 2nd Innings - 235 (90.3 overs)
ENGLAND WIN BY 347 RUNS
The result of the second test was the opposite of the tense and dramatic first test that people witnessed, in fact England produced a dominant display that saw both Ian Bell and Joe Root put on 100+ scores.
England once again won the toss and chose to bat first, but did not expect the onslaught that was to come from the Aussies. After just six overs England were already three wickets down, Cook, Root and Pietersen produced a combined score of just 20 runs and gave Australia the perfect start. However, England were not suffering from a first test hangover as Trott and Bell combined brilliantly to put England back in control. Bell became only the fourth English batsmen to reach a century in three successful Ashes matches. Bell was eventually dismissed by Clarke's catch at slip, but England continued strongly with Jonny Bairstow adding 67 to the total 361. Ryan Harris eased the pain slightly with his five wickets as he dismissed Bresnan and Anderson, but Australia were left cursing their missed chance to take advantage in the second test.
Undoubtedly this affected the Aussies when they went in to bat as they fell to a lackluster 128 all out. Although they started steadily, Australia lost 3 wickets for just 11 runs and Graeme Swann was at his best, dismissing Rogers and Khawaja before going on to take 5 wickets. Australia never really got going and found themselves over 200 runs behind. However they started in the same fashion as they had previously done in the first innings and reduced England to 30/3 but this time there was another hero in the England squad, something of which the Aussies had lacked so far in the series. Joe Root, who opened with Cook, spent an incredible 466 minutes at the crease and accumulated a total of 180 runs, putting England firmly in the driving seat. It was another performance of great maturity, every time England needed a hero, one arrived and this inspired Cook to declare with Australia needing 583 to win.
Although this time there was to be no drama, England saw off Australia for just 235 runs, less than half of what was required for them to take the second test at Lords. Khawaja put in a spirited performance with a half century but it wasn't nearly enough to get near their target. Graeme Swann continued his fine bowling performance from the first winning and took another four to give England a healthy 2-0 lead going into the third test with a whitewash still on the cards.
No comments:
Post a Comment