Daijiworld Media Network
Nottingham, Aug 6 : The reality is that the Ashes are almost gone bar a miracle. Can England end the game on day 2? Highly unlikely. But we saw that one can't take anything for granted on day 1. It has been an insane day of Test match cricket and we will be in nice and early on day 2.
The lead is 214 and we are just at the end of day 1. Unbelievable really! That's the beauty of cricket - the unpredictability of it continues to amaze us. Australia have had a shocker and if they had a wish to exercise at the end of the day, they would be hoping it was all a bad dream and would want to start all over again. Unfortunately for them that is just not reality.
Root showed the Aussies how to bat on this wicket displaying good technique, measured judgement and picked off the loose balls. Mind you the conditions were in his favor but you still have to make it count and he did just that. Showed that if one rides through the rough period, there were runs to be taken. Bairstow looked vulnerable to the short one early on but progressed serenely after that. Just when one thought that the duo will see it through to stumps, Bairstow flicked one straight to mid-wicket.
After tea it was Root and Bairstow - two Yorkshiremen who feasted on a tired looking Aussie attack. As the sun shone,
the shoulders of the Aussies flagged. Both Hazlewood and Johnson were expensive with only Starc looking like producing a wicket. Root and Bairstow reached their respective milestones with the former continuing his golden run.
60 all-out in 94 minutes with 14 extras being the top-scorer sums up the sorry plight of the Aussie innings. The entire innings was over in a flash. Just as Broad took the last wicket, the sun came out and the conditions changed. Batting became easier and even though Starc took out Lyth and Bell, Cook and Root built a solid stand. Just before tea Starc came back to dismiss Cook.
Two wickets fell in the opening over and that set the tone. Edges went to hand and England caught everything that came their way with Stokes' one-handed horizontal take the highlight of the lot. Broad did nothing out of the ordinary, kept bowling in the right areas using the movement to get the batsmen out. The Aussie batters save for Warner and Nevill were like cats on a hot tin roof unable to withstand the seam and swing on offer. Clarke played a horrendous shot to get out and when the captain surrenders like that, shows that the team aren't up for the fight.
Catastrophic day for Australia. If anyone had said that David Warner would be bowling in the final session of the day, he would've been termed a lunatic and asked what he had for the day. Perfect bowling conditions when England won the toss and bowled first. Broad bowled the spell of his life as he snared 8/15 - perfectly revelling in the role of the lead bowler in the absence of Anderson. Anderson was there but not on the field as he watched the carnage from the dressing room with a wry smile on his face
It has certainly been a great day for the hosts. They have taken a vice-like grip on the proceedings. The pacers generated swing and got the ball to seam to snare the wickets. In particular, Broad bowled a dream spell and snaffled 8 wickets for a mere 15 runs! Joe Root, the man in form then essayed his 8th century as Australia found themselves in deep trouble