Australia narrowly win on 386 before lunch, England lead by seven after first innings
Posted Date – 12:07 AM, Mon – 6/19/23
Australia’s Scott Boland (right) appeals unsuccessfully against England’s Jolut (left) on day three of the first Ashes Test cricket match between England and Australia in Edgbaston. (Photo by Associated Press)
Birmingham: The England team managed to get through the third day of the game with the help of heaven, because the continuous rain caused the game to be stopped early.
This comes after Scott Boland and Pat Cummins made a short English debut on Day 3 of the Ashes 2023 opening Test match at Edgbaston.
At the end of Day 3, England were 28/2 with Joe Root and Ollie Pope unbeaten.
England continued their ‘baseball’ style of play until rain interrupted the game for the first time on Day 3. Ben Duckett looked to score a quick run, while Zack Crawley played the anchor, grabbing his wickets at the other end.
However, once the weather gods interrupted the game, everything started to change. A drizzle interrupted the game for an hour.
Scott Boland and Pat Cummins thrived on the rain-washed field after play resumed. The pitch and wind provide ideal conditions for speed bowlers to pitch to English batsmen.
Cummins denied Duckett because he tried to hit the back short, but his shot wasn’t wide enough. Green stretched every part of his body and patted a stunner against the gully. Duckett left with 19(28).
On the next play, Boland swung the ball quickly to the right-handed hitter. He grapples with the drastic changes in the situation. Borland fired him perfectly as he ended up kicking the ball into Alex Carey’s hands. Crowley walked back to the pavilion with a score of 7 (25).
Root and Pope managed to grab their wickets when the rain intervened again. Ultimately, the game couldn’t continue and Stump was awarded 10.3 points.
Earlier, Alex Carey and centurion Usman Khawaja restarted their fine partnership at 311/5 as the duo kept breaking the set intervals.
The two continued to move the scoreboard at a brisk pace. Carey hit two back-to-back fours before veteran James Anderson beat the Australian batsman for 66 and broke a solid 100-plus run partnership. Australia captain Pat Cummins then came out to bat.
Trapping centurion Khawaja was a tall order for the England players, however, Ollie Robinson did the job gracefully, knocking out Australia’s opener. England captain Ben Stokes deployed an odd pitch for Khawaja – some close receivers in front of the square – and it seemed to confuse the Australian when he came off the pitch and was beaten by Robinson.
New batsman Nathan Lyon looked distrustful of any significant shots he hit and was eventually out when he was caught by Ben Duckett on the square-leg boundary near Robinson.
Another unorthodox attacking pitch from England welcomed new batsman Scott Boland, and Robinson rounded the wicket on the right-hand side of the last ball.
Broad then let Bowland play short, and the plan worked for England as he got close to close fielder Ollie Pope in offside, leaving the Australian batsman without scoring.
Cummins tried to catch Robinson’s short ball, but the timing was wrong, and Stokes caught it under the ball and down the middle.
Australia narrowly won on 386 before lunch, with England leading by seven after the first innings.
Brief score: England 393/8 d and 28/2 (Zack Crawley 19 (28), Ben Duckett 7 (25) and Scott Boland 1/1) against Australia 386 (Usman Khawaja 141; Alex Carey 66; Ollie Robinson 3-55).
