Tweet
Originally posted by DaveK93
View Post
-
Guess you've just got to make sure you take your chances then. I got dropped on 398 as him. -
Third Test Match
Well, after the drubbing at Lords, England travelled to Edgbaston, home of the stunning 2005 victory. That spirit needed to be invoked once more, as England had struggled through the series so far.
Changes were always likely, and they happened in large ways. Broad and Wood were both sent back to the county scene with Finn and Topley called up to replace them. Finn averaged an impressive 11.82 in FC this season, while Topley’s 35.88 bowling average from 10 tests was mediocre at best, but he had a point to prove after also performing at domestic level.
Barlow was also dropped in favour of Sam Hain, who could make his debut on his home ground. Another consistent county performer, the defensive batsman is in competition with Sharpe for a place on the pitch. His career average of 56.66 puts him in good stead.
In the end, Hain was the chosen man. Australia make one change as well, with Holroyd replacing Wheatley in the seam attack.
England called correctly on heads, and with a slow outfield, and cloud overhead, put the Aussies in first.
Warner made light work of the conditions using brute force. He bludgeoned the bowling as England were put under yet more pressure, before Dyke finally managed to remove him, having had a previous effort dropped.
With Smith starting tentatively though, Burns took the mantle of responsibility. That was, until he missed a straight one from Dyke, and was clean bowled at 152-2.Dickens and Smith rebuilt as usual, but Topley removed both just prior to the new ball in a magnificent spell of swing bowling, making up for a poor economy rate. Dyke then followed it up by removing Martin and Lynn quickly. Finn got Starc with the new ball, but a brief rain shower ended the day with Aus 326-7. The eventually finished on 369 ao, after more dropped catches set England back.
England managed to add 161 for the opening pair, as Cook and Lyth set about their task in a workmanlike fashion. Cook fell with 5 overs left in the day for 76, but Taylor concentrated, and stuck with Lyth til the close at 183-1.Code:Australia - 1st Innings ---------------------------------------------- D Warner c Lyth b Dyke 65 J Burns b Dyke 62 S Smith lbw b Topley 68 D Dickens b Topley 60 J Martin lbw b Dyke 19 C Lynn c Lyth b Dyke 11 S Whiteman c Dyke b Anderson 18 M Starc c Buttler b Finn 13 J Pattinson not out 18 A Holroyd c & b Finn 4 J Hazlewood lbw b Anderson 13 ---------------------------------------------- Extras: (nb7,w2,b4,lb5) 18 TOTAL: (all out, 107.1 overs) 369 ********************************************** O M R W ---------------------------------------------- S Finn 25 1 95 2 J Anderson 27.1 3 68 2 R Topley 24 2 98 2 B Stokes 8 1 24 0 R Dyke 23 3 75 4 ---------------------------------------------- Fall of Wickets: 1-97 2-152 3-260 4-283 5-285 6-296 7-317 8-333 9-344 10-369
Lyth failed to see out his century again, falling for 98 this time, bringing home favourite Hain in. Unfortunately he only added 12, but with Taylor attacking at the other end, it looked as if it wouldn’t cause problems, especially with Root next. England managed to reach lunch without further incident though. Taylor reached his half century as England went in at 284-3.
Unfortunately the cloud cover brought swing and wickets. Root went for 30, and Stokes fell after a quickfire 21. Buttler and Taylor continued the charge though, and brought the 400 up on the stroke of tea.
Taylor fell 1 short of a superb century, but Buttler showed no signs of stopping his assault, being on 59 from 62 at that point. He finally fell for 93 from 99, as he attacked with a weak English tale in the firing line.
Aus knocked off the deficit with ease, losing no wickets. However, Topley set off on a one man mission. Aus were 238-3 at tea on day 4, but Warner, Burns and Smith had all been removed by the Hampshire seamer, with a lead of only 139. Session 3 was going to be pivotal.Code:England - 1st Innings ---------------------------------------------- A Lyth c Lynn b Starc 98 A Cook lbw b Holroyd 76 J Taylor b Pattinson 99 S Hain b Pattinson 12 J Root c Lynn b Pattinson 30 B Stokes b Hazlewood 21 J Buttler c Whiteman b Hazlewood 93 R Dyke c Whiteman b Starc 2 S Finn b Pattinson 0 J Anderson b Holroyd 4 R Topley not out 10 ---------------------------------------------- Extras: (nb9,w2,b8,lb4) 23 TOTAL: (all out, 146.1 overs) 468 ********************************************** O M R W ---------------------------------------------- M Starc 34 1 122 2 J Pattinson 41 0 143 4 J Hazlewood 32 3 72 2 A Holroyd 27.1 2 62 2 J Burns 12 1 57 0 ---------------------------------------------- Fall of Wickets: 1-161 2-209 3-241 4-293 5-317 6-416 7-420 8-421 9-456 10-468
In the end, 100 runs were scored, but 4 wickets fell. The new ball did the trick, and going into the last day, any result was possible.
Aus were quickly mopped up for 359, with Topley claiming a six wicket haul for the innings, leaving England with 261 to win in 5 hours.
Cook and Lyth struggled to get the ball to the rope, but after Cook departed for 26, ODI specialist Taylor set about changing that. By the time tea arrived, the equation had been reduced to 125 in the last session, with Lyth on 60, and Taylor on 35.Code:Australia - 2nd Innings ---------------------------------------------- D Warner b Topley 65 J Burns b Topley 76 S Smith c Hain b Topley 88 D Dickens b Anderson 22 J Martin c Hain b Finn 37 C Lynn c Buttler b Topley 17 S Whiteman b Finn 0 M Starc lbw b Topley 18 J Pattinson c & b Finn 19 A Holroyd b Topley 1 J Hazlewood not out 7 ---------------------------------------------- Extras: (nb4,b1,lb4) 9 TOTAL: (all out, 106.2 overs) 359 ********************************************** O M R W ---------------------------------------------- S Finn 21.2 0 73 3 J Anderson 23 2 70 1 R Topley 25 2 84 6 B Stokes 14 1 57 0 R Dyke 23 5 70 0 ---------------------------------------------- Fall of Wickets: 1-106 2-227 3-236 4-285 5-297 6-305 7-330 8-335 9-339 10-359
However, the session started with Taylor and Hain departing. Root joined in though, and with half an hour gone in the session, 27 runs were chalked off. Lyth got creative, and 74 were then needed in the last hour.
The main problem at this point had been Hazlewood, who had kept it tight, but Lyth started to hit him hard. He completed his century, as the equation went down to 50 from 31 minutes. Lyth and Root fell on their swords to get the aggressive Buttler and Stokes in, who reduced the equation further, making it 20 from 5 overs. 8 came from the next, Stokes taking a punt on a Burns full toss to get 4. It was all over though in the next over, as Buttler dismantled Holroyd to take 14 from the over, and the victory at the last.
Code:England - 2nd Innings ---------------------------------------------- A Lyth b Hazlewood 107 A Cook c Martin b Starc 26 J Taylor c Lynn b Starc 35 S Hain c Whiteman b Starc 0 J Root b Holroyd 38 B Stokes not out 20 J Buttler not out 18 R Dyke S Finn J Anderson R Topley ---------------------------------------------- Extras: (nb3,b16) 19 TOTAL: (5 wkts, 76 overs) 263 ********************************************** O M R W ---------------------------------------------- M Starc 17 2 51 3 J Pattinson 20 2 64 0 J Hazlewood 20 3 47 1 A Holroyd 15 2 60 1 J Burns 4 0 25 0 ---------------------------------------------- Fall of Wickets: 1-63 2-136 3-136 4-217 5-241
A more complete performance from England to win them the match then. But there are still questions. Stokes and Anderson struggled with the ball again, so the seam attack still looks weak. Hain struggled on debut, but in difficult circumstances, but the re-emergence of Taylor looks to have closed open batting slots to 1. Who will claim the right to that position?
Series State: England 1-1 Australia
Nottinghamshire supporter and proud!Comment
-
Just a heads up, the Trent Bridge Test will be posted Monday evening. Consider this a mid series break for both teams to recharge.Nottinghamshire supporter and proud!Comment
-
So a microsoft word failure cost me the write up for the last two matches. You'll be delighted to know though that we won 3-1, despite Steve Smith reaching 1000 runs for the series. The new generation is coming through though, so at some point this week, I'll introduce you to some of the newbies of 2022.
In the meantime, I'll leave you with this beast of a player from Leicestershire who is the most exciting prospect to come through this last season and a half.
Last edited by DaveK93; 10-26-2015, 10:23 AM.Nottinghamshire supporter and proud!Comment
-
He looks pretty solid. What about G. Ballance ?Comment
Comment