The old faithful James Anderson and Stuart Broad returned to the England side but it did not seem to make any difference as Australia posted 221/2 on the board on Day 1 of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Playing without the services of Pat Cummins due to coming in close contact of Covid-19 positive person, vice-captain Steve Smith donned the skipper’s cap after a long gap of three years since he was stripped off the role for sandpapergate.
Stand-in skipper Smith won the toss and elected to bat first. Marcus Harris’ poor run continues as a thick inside edge off his bat was caught by an airborne Jos Buttler diving to his right. Stuart Broad got the breakthrough in the eight over while Australian openers struggled to get the strike turning over against the new ball.
Veteran David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne were cautious at start and shared a 172-run partnership for the second wicket. After taking his time, Warner looked to attack but once again the three figures eluded him. The southpaw played an attacking shot off Ben Stokes’ delivery towards covers but Stuart Broad managed to hang on it. The left-handed batter scored 95 runs off 167 deliveries including 11 boundaries. This is the second time Warner has departed for 95. He became the first batsman after 1921 to get out in 90s in consecutive innings in Ashes.
After Warner’s wicket, Labuschagne carried on alongside his idol and skipper Smith. The two did not let any more wickets fall and shared an unbeaten 45-run partnership for the third wicket in the last session of Day 2. Playing under the lights both the batters struggled to send the pink ball past the boundary line. Labuschagne remained unbeaten for 95 off 275 deliveries whereas Smith could manage 17 runs from 71 deliveries.
While England’s four fast bowlers failed to dominate Australian batters by getting a string of wickets, they were economical and skipper Joe Root kept the pressure on with tight fielding. Anderson was the most economical with 29 runs from 18 overs including nine maidens. Broad, Ollie Robinson and Chris Woakes too kept a lid on runs as the hosts scored runs at a run rate of 2.48.
