England fightback short-lived as Aussies keep foot down

If England are to avoid slipping to 0-2 in the Vodafone Ashes Series, they will need to defy more than a hundred years of history and an even greater weight of expectation such is the frailty of their top-order batting.

Another dominant display by Australia's bowlers – albeit in the absence of their two best-performed quicks from the series opener in Brisbane (Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood) – followed by vindication of the decision not to make England follow-on sees them resume tomorrow 282 runs ahead with nine wickets in hand.

The highest successful fourth innings run chase in a Test at Adelaide Oval was Australia's 6-315 at the turn of the previous century when matches could stretch over as many days as were needed to gain a result, but never into the night.

The benchmark for winning totals posted in the fourth innings of day-night Tests at the ground is the 7-187 the home team scrambled to in claiming the format's first fixture against New Zealand in 2015.

England's predicament is a direct consequence of being bowled out for 236 – just under half of Australia's first innings total – with around an hour left to play on day three.

And despite the magical, mystical properties assigned to the new pink ball under lights, Australia's stand-in captain Steve Smith opted not to enforce the follow-on and instead sent his openers out to extend the lead.

They duly took the score to 41 before David Warner lost his wicket in the only manner that seemed likely – run out in a howling misunderstanding with partner Marcus Harris – before Harris and night watchman Michael Neser saw them safely to stumps on 1-45.

It was an eerily similar scenario to that which confronted Smith in the previous day-night Ashes Test at Adelaide four years ago when Smith – in his former iteration as skipper – declined the follow-on with a lead of 215 only to see his team slump to 4-53 at the end of day three.

That became 138 all out next day, and after a couple of wasted reviews and missed chances Australia secured victory by 120 runs on the back of Mitchell Starc's five-wicket bag.

It was Starc who returned the best figures (4-37 from 16.1 overs) in today's demolition of England who, much like their second innings of the series opener, squandered their strong recovery that took them to 2-150 by surrendering their final eight wickets for 86 in less than 40 overs.

Starc's haul not only lifted him past Jason Gillespie (259 wickets) and into eighth place on Australia's all-time Test wicket-taking list (with 263 to date), he also became the game's first to claim 50 victims in pink-ball Tests.

While the strategies played out in day-night Test matches continue to evolve, it's doubtful that avoiding exposure to the second new-ball in the evening session by losing a bulk of your wickets to the first during daylight will catch on.

However, with two glaring exceptions as well as the belligerent defiance of all-rounder Ben Stokes, England's lack of batting productivity leaves them in an even more dire position than they faced here four years ago.

And as was the case in Brisbane a week prior, England's fightback was shouldered by Dawid Malan and Joe Root who – having survived the dual threats of new pink ball and nearby lightning strikes on Friday night – batted through today's first session without blemish.

In a further mirror image of the first Test, when the pair's 138-run third-wicket stand was broken soon after resumption of the next session the wheels that had seemed so securely in place began to wobble uncontrollably.

Root was the first to fall and his vain search for a maiden Test century on Australia soil continues after he fell for 62, to all-rounder Cameron Green for the second time in as many innings.

Stand-in skipper Smith chose not to bring Green into the attack until the 38th over, not long before the first break of the day-night schedule, by which stage both Root and Malan had posted half-centuries and appeared decidedly comfortable despite Australia's tidy bowling.

It didn't take long for Green to start troubling Root, who had nicked-off to the tall all-rounder when well set on 89 and seemingly bound for his breakthrough hundred in Brisbane.

Having induced a couple of false strokes from the England skipper early in his spell today, Green coaxed him to push his bat at a delivery that moved away slightly off the pitch and landed in the hands of an exultant Smith at slip.

Root has now scored nine Test half-centuries from his 20 innings in Australia, joining former Western Australia opener Bruce Laird as co-owners of the unwanted record for most 50s without a hundred in this country.

Of course, Laird posted three tons in World Series Cricket's 'Supertests' which remain excluded from the game's 'official' statistics to the incredulity of anyone involved in those games of significantly higher standard than many played before or since.

England's captain has now compiled 1606 from his 26 innings in 2021, with a maximum of three more possible before year's end with only South Africa's Graeme Smith (1656 in 2008), Viv Richards (1710 in 1976) and Mohammad Yousuf (1788 in 2006) ahead of him for Test runs in a calendar year.

However, the frustration Root displayed in punching his bat as he began his walk back to the sheds reflected annoyance at his lapse and his inability to continue a partnership to the point that Australia's bowlers faced similar heartache as his own seamers on the first two days of this Test.

He would scarcely have made it to England's upstairs viewing room in the Sir Donald Bradman Pavilion before Malan was also on his way back, and the tourists were officially on the skids.

While Malan didn't execute a right jab into his bat face, his exasperation was palpable and perhaps even more justified than Root whose fallibility outside off stump remains an area of interest for Australia's quicks.

Malan has looked as competent as his captain thus far in this series, which ensures he stands apart from most of his Ashes teammates, none of whom have joined him and Root in reaching 50 in three innings to date.

He is also the common denominator in the three England partnerships to have extended through a session in Australia unbroken since the 2017-18 Ashes campaign having managed it with Root at Brisbane and Adelaide this summer and with Jonny Bairstow at Perth four years ago.

But Smith's decision to recall Starc to the attack in place of Green shortly after Root's removal proved decisive.

One delivery after Malan completed a neat late-cut to the backward point boundary when Starc offered him too much width, he attempted to repeat the stroke at a ball marginally closer to his body and Smith pouched his third catch of the innings.

With the two points of best England resistance cleared, the path through the middle order was disturbingly simple.

Ollie Pope's struggles against spin appear to have deepened, although he did enjoy a fleeting victory when the decision to give him out – squeezing a catch to short-leg off Lyon – was overturned when the batter's review confirmed it had bounced from his forearm.

When he was caught in the same position by the same fielder (Marnus Labuschagne) off the same bowler the very next ball, the right-hander had effectively completed a two-minute meme of England's batting woes of this tour.

Jos Buttler's failure to score was an unsurprising as the manner of his dismissal – an extravagant drive aimed at a ball angled across him by Starc that was smartly snared at slip – and after adding 0-123 in the day's extended first session their effort in the second showed 4-57.

The trend continued into the floodlit phase, with Chris Woakes' counter-punching knock of 24 (laced with five boundaries) ending when Lyon lured him into pushing at a fizzing off-break that was dragged on to the stumps.

Ollie Robinson fell lbw to Lyon for a duck, although not before completing a notable moment whereby he became the first England batter of the series to offer a genuine chance – sharp to the left of Starc in the gully off Green – that wasn't accepted.

By contrast, England have squandered more than a dozen opportunities in addition to claiming a couple of 'wickets' from no-balls.

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: Australia won by nine wickets

Second Test: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Blundstone Arena