Paxter Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Looks like it will be down to Usman again to bail out Australia's batting. Nice start to the series for England in terms of dealing with the huge threats posed by Marnus and Smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Feels a bit odd to have a go at Khawaja of all people. Someone like warner I could understand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 6 hours ago, Paxter said: Bazball misfiring a bit today. Australia now have a good chance of winning this test. ETA: Having said that, there are actually not many successful run chases over 200 at this ground. England got 378 last year on the back of Jonny's brilliance. SA chased 281 back in 2008. The next highest is only 208. The weather forecast for Birmingham tomorrow does not look particularly promising, it would be disappointing for a Test with so many twists and turns to end up in a draw due to rain. Australia might have to worry about possibly getting some conditions similar to that period on Sunday afternoon with the rain about to come in where the seam bowlers looked unplayable. There would probably nobody better to exploit such conditions than Anderson and Broad. If the weather does turn out fine then I think it is probably advantage Australia. England have done well to get rid of Warner, Labuschagne and Smith but there are still several Australian batsmen there with the ability to make a match-winning innings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 I think England are in a good position here. If the rain comes into play, that will only help the bowlers with stop-start sessions. The Australian tail is also fairly weak, so they will rely heavily on Khawaja, Green and Carey with not much else to chase down 174. There's a reason these chases only rarely end in success. A draw is definitely a possibility. If rain gets rid of half of the day, that only allows around 40-50 overs to get 174 runs. I could easily see Australia going slow and trying to shut up shop if they lose a couple of early wickets. Paxter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Why do they stop playing so early when its broad daylight until well after they finish (on days when they lose overs to the weather)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Cautious start to the day's play by Australia. 20 more runs at a snail's pace with the cost of Boland's wicket, so the calculations haven't really changed since the start of the day I still reckon my draw prediction is worth some money (and I had a little flutter when odds were an astronomical $12). Everyone's thinking result, but all it will take is a couple of quick Aussie wickets and then all hope of a successful chase goes out the window and it becomes a bunkering down to save a draw. Already it's down to 150-odd to get in 50 overs, which looks comfortable, but wipe another 20 overs and 40 runs off with a couple of wickets down, and a draw starts to look more tantalising. Broad is bowling well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 I’m not convinced the draw is in play. Australia not scoring that slowly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Aussies making a good fist of this. I think if they get to less than 50 to win with Usman and Carey at the crease, they will win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Khawaja’s gone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Test is on a knife edge. It is all eerily 2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Where's the new ball!?! 30 to win. Two wickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Yeah, declaring early and not taking the new ball till there were less than 30 runs are baffling decisions (the first in hindsight, granted). Sometimes, conventional wisdom is best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Amazing innings from Cummins. This looked all England not long ago. Decision to declare in first innings still baffling but may have only led to a draw rather than a positive result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Cummings actually doing the impossible and being a likable Australian captain? Great stuff and Lyon's been close a couple of times in these close games so think he deserves to win one of those Hope Khawaja tells Robinson to fuck off, enjoyed that the winning runs came off him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Great victory. Neither team really deserved to lose. Very happy for Usman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 1 hour ago, Paxter said: Where's the new ball!?! Where were the yorkers?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 39 minutes ago, Raja said: Where were the yorkers?! There was a bit of role reversal going on. Usually it's Australia being caught flat-footed when batsmen get aggressive (witness Boland's performance in this test match). But this time, it was Australia's tail going hard and the England bowlers not having answers. They definitely missed someone like Mark Wood. And, of course, while valiant, Moeen's performance in this match was far eclipsed by Lyon's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 1 hour ago, Raja said: Hope Khawaja tells Robinson to fuck off, enjoyed that the winning runs came off him I think you're buying into a controversy that's entirely based on the media trying to stir something up there. Bowler aims a fairly mild volley at a batsmen who's been frustrating them in tough conditions shocker! So far as I can tell none of the Australians appear particularly bothered. I had to go out so I missed the end but I thought England had it won at 8 down. Maybe I'm a bit biased as an England fan but that feels like a real missed opportunity for England. Don't declare on the first day and take one of the chances presented in the first Australian innings and England would probably have had 70-100 more runs to play with there. Oh well, good test anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 The Ashes (in England at least) always seem to deliver epic matches. There were many swings in momentum, for a lot of it England seemed to have the slight upper hand but Australia managed to put in a gritty performance to pull off the win. A lot is likely going to be written about the first day declaration, but while I think it was an odd decision I think what really lost England the match was missing a few chances when they were fielding. Big question for the next Test is whether Moeen will be fully fit to bowl, he was clearly hampered in the second innings even if he still managed to get the key wicket of Travis Head. The problem is that there still isn't really an obvious alternative. I suspect Wood will also come into the team, but that would always have been the plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Well, that was pretty crazy - I went to bed after Head's dismissal, thinking an England win was on the cards, but there were a few twists and turns there. So much for my criticism of the Australian tail - Cummins and Lyon both did well to shepherd the last 50+ runs of the chase. England will feel hard done by. They were ahead for almost all of the game and then Australia got in at the end. When the margin is so small, inevitably a lot of things will be looked at - the first innings declaration, dropped catches, Bairstow's keeping, not to take the new ball, Moeen's injury, etc. Australia didn't play a particularly tight match either with Cummins' overly defensive fields, and to get a win when the twin powerhouses of Labuschagne/Smith didn't contribute at all is a massive bonus. So Australia will be incredibly happy and going to Lords, a ground where they have performed very well historically, will be good for them. On the positive side for England, Broad has bowled well and Robinson has some grunt to him. Anderson looked a bit off the boil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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