Hazlewood, Lyon strike as England batters struggle
Birmingham : Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon struck again in the second session to help Australia further dominate England on Day 1 of the ongoing first Test of Ashes here at Edgbaston on Friday.
At the tea break, England’s score read 240/5 as the duo of Root (66*) and Bairstow (33*) fought back after Australia delivered early blows in the session. In the second session, England scored 116 runs while losing two wickets. Resuming the second session at 124/3, Joe Root and Harry Brook managed to gather runs to take their team’s total beyond the 150-run mark. The duo kept on moving the scoreboard at a brisk pace.
Brook was the aggressor of the batting pair, smashing boundaries regularly. The batting pair of Root and Brook were decisive in their approach and made the Australian bowlers toil hard making merry of the excellent batting conditions on offer.
The hosts rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the Aussie bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer.
Brook displayed great resilience and determination as he brought up a 50-run partnership with Root in the 36th over of the game.
Brook’s aggressive stint at the crease was cut short as he was dismissed by Lyon for 32 in the 38th over of the match. England captain Ben Stokes then came out to bat but failed to leave a mark in their innings as he was removed by Hazlewood for one digit in the 39th over. Brook fell to a freak dismissal off Lyon, while Stokes was out chasing a wide one early in his innings off Hazlewood.
With five wickets of hosts in hand, Australian bowlers dominated the second session as they dismissed England’s top order.
The right-handed batter Jonny Bairstow then came out to bat. Cummins then brought all-rounder Cameron Green into the attack, and first up he sent down a bouncer to Bairstow which the England batter ducked out of the way of.
England’s run machine and former captain Root showed determination as he brought up his half-century in 74 balls.
The duo of Root and Bairstow fought back after Australia delivers early blows in the session to take their team’s total at 240/5.
Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bat first. The hosts started their innings with a cracking four off the very first ball of the match in Pat Cummins’ over. Zak Crawley hit a four off the first ball of the Ashes series against Australia at Edgbaston on Friday, giving an early indication of whether they will continue to their aggressive new style to test match cricket.
Crawley immediately got his groove, clipping the ball from Australia captain Pat Cummins to the boundary to great applause from the home crowd.
However, the other opening batter Ben Duckett lost his wicket to Josh Hazlewood in the fourth over of the match. The right-handed batter Ollie Pope then came out to bat. The duo of Pope and Crawley maintained a fine partnership. Nathan Lyon
Breaking a solid partnership, Nathan Lyon got the better of Ollie Pope in the 18th over of the match.
Duckett and Pope might have lost their wickets but Crawley scored briskly to stand tall in front of the Aussie attack as he kept stealing boundaries at regular intervals. After scoring a brisk 61 runs off 73 Crawley was dismissed on the stroke of lunch by Scott Boland. At the time of lunch, England’s score read 124/3.
Brief score: England 240/5 (Joe Root 66*, Jonny Bairstow 33*; Josh Hazlewood 2-44) vs Australia.
