Australia skipper Pat Cummins made a phenomenal return to Test cricket and took three wickets against England on the second day of the third Ashes Test. He was the pick of the bowlers from his team as they restricted the visitors down to 213/8 by the end of the day's play in Adelaide.
Cummins' last appearance in Test cricket had come in July when he had featured against West Indies in the three-match series. He went on to sustain a lumbar stress fracture and it took him a little over 4 months to fully recover from it. This saw him miss the first two Tests of the ongoing Ashes series, but even without him, Australia went on to win both the games rather comfortably.
Cummins provides Australia with important wickets
Coming to the Adelaide Test, Cummins provided Australia with the key breakthrough and dismissed Zak Crawley to break the opening partnership for 37 runs. He then went on to pick up the massive wicket of Joe Root before sending Jamie Smith back to the pavilion and completing his 3-fer. He bowled a total of 14 overs during the day, recording figures of 3/54 and also surpassed Brett Lee's tally of wickets in the process.
Cummins now has a total of 312 wickets under his name in Test cricket and overtook Lee's tally of 310 during the second day of the Adelaide Test. The Australia skipper is now just two wickets shy from surpassing Mitchell Johnson's tally of 313 scalps in the format and becoming the side's sixth-highest wicket-taker in red-ball cricket.
Most wickets for Australia in Tests -
1. Shane Warne - 708 wickets
2. Nathan Lyon - 564 wickets
3. Glenn McGrath - 563 wickets
4. Mitchell Starc - 420 wickets
5. Dennis Lillee - 355 wickets
6. Mitchell Johnson - 313 wickets
7. Pat Cummins - 312 wickets
8. Brett Lee - 310 wickets
Australia firmly in-charge of Adelaide Test
Meanwhile, Australia remained in control of the match on the second day as England still trail them by a massive 158-run margin. The troika of Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland took seven wickets between them and ensured that the visiting batters failed to form any big partnerships. Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer remained unbeaten on 45 and 30 respectively as England avoided being bowled out on the second day.