Ashes 2nd test Day 5 live: Australia go 2-0 up, well on their way to retain the Ashes
If these first two test matches are anything to go by, this series is not for the faint-hearted. What a test match we have witnessed here, with absolutely stunning performances from both teams. It was Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes who put up a fight for England, whereas Steve Smith and Usman Khwaja led the way for Australia.
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It was all square until lunch, when Benjamin Andrew Stokes was in full flow and all set to take this match away from Australia. After lunch, he defended the first ball but delivered the very next ball into the stands in front of the wicket.
He was also given some chances by Steve Smith as he dropped him in the deep. Stokes looked determined to take his team home and was playing very well. He reached his 150 in no time and was hitting sixes easily in alternate overs, with Stuart Broad supporting him really well from the other end.
The crowd also played a huge role in pushing England to this stage and was behind Stokes in his entire innings. Stokes had not hit a boundary for the last 6 overs and was getting impatient, and then in the 73rd over, he tried to pull a not-so-short ball for a six but only managed a top edge that flied away to Alex Carey, whose run-out will be talked about for a very long time.
The match was more or less over when Stokes was out for a fabulous 155. He received a few pats on the back from his opponents and a standing ovation from the crowd and the dugout, but the England players showed some resistance and tired the Aussie bowlers for a little bit more.
In the end, it was a full ball on the stumps from Mitchell Starc that brought an end to Josh Tongue’s as well as this English innings. It was a fantastic effort from the pace trio of Australia to get this job done without their ace spinner, Nathan Lyon.
All three of these pacers got three wickets each and broke the backbone of the English batting. If one more batter had stayed with Stokes, who knows what could have happened with the kind of form Stokes was in? Nathan Lyon’s bravery and that 15-run partnership proved to be really crucial for his team as well.
For the next match, Lyon is surely going to be a big miss for Australia, and they will rope in Todd Murphy, whereas James Anderson is likely to miss out for England at Leeds.
The end result is that Australia has won this test match by 43 runs and is 2-0 up in the series away from home. The next three matches are to be played at Headingley, Old Trafford, and The Oval. England needs to win all three to get that trophy back from Australia, whereas the visitors just need one more win to retain it. Just to remind you, this series is a part of the WTC Cycle 2023–25.
