Ashes 2017-18, 2nd Test, Day 1, Review: Honours shared as England fightback under lights

The attritional battle between the arch-rivals continued in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval as Australia and England men locked horns for the first time in day-night Tests. The hosts, however, would be the happier of the two sides as they were sent in surprisingly by England after winning the toss on a good surface. However, The visitors fought back gamely in the final session as the pink ball jagged a lot under the lights which forced the batsmen to change their approach.

There was a lot of chatter ahead of the second Test as both teams strode out on the ground to gain the upper hand on the first day. While the Aussies named an unchanged eleven, England replaced Jake Ball with Craig Overton who made his international debut. David Warner and Cameron Bancroft weathered the new ball and the first hour quite comfortably as James Anderson didn’t look up for the stern test. Stuart Broad though was well versed with the pink ball and looked more menacing of the two.

But the rain followed the teams in Adelaide as well as it stopped the play a couple of times only to frustrate the players and the officials. The second stoppage was a longer one as only 13.5 overs were bowled in the first session. The skies cleared up in the later part of the day as only a few overs were lost due to rain. But the break worked in the favour of the visitors as the mix up between the openers brought the first wicket for them. Bancroft returned for just 10 runs as Chris Woakes affected a direct hit at the bowler’s end.

Warner and Usman Khawaja then consolidated and slowly started to resurrect the innings. But the former threw his wicket away after getting set as he wafted at the bowl outside the off-stump off Woakes. He missed out on his half-century by just three runs. The skipper Steve Smith was welcomed with some verbal volleys as the visitors tried to rough him up early in his innings. He weathered the early burst though and easily settled into his innings. England didn’t help their cause as they dropped Khawaja on 43 with the hosts went into the dinner break with a huge advantage.

There was also a banter between Anderson and Smith at the non-striker’s end with the umpire Aleem Dar having to intervene finally. But they continued to chat along and threw verbal volleys at each other. Smith was also furious earlier with Broad continuously saying something to him and was fired up to give his best.

Sensational third session under lights

The most awaited final session under lights brought sheer joy to Joe Root and his men as Khawaja was caught at gully stupendously by James Vince. He couldn’t score than 53 and was snaffled by James Anderson. However, the biggest wicket of the day was scalped by the debutant Craig Overton who castled Smith with an incoming delivery and went off on a celebratory run. England had Aussies under pressure with Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb both new to the crease and the scorecard reading 161/4.

But the duo batted with utmost concentration and were watchful right through after that. Handscomb, in particular, was innovative in his run-scoring and took the pressure off his partner who looked edgy at the start. Though he got settled in after some time to play some lovely strokes as they saw through the day of some intense Test cricket. Australia finished the day finally on 209/4 with Marsh unbeaten on 20 and his partner on 36.

The match hangs right in the balance now with England not conceded more runs and Australia not losing many wickets. The first session of the second day will be massive mostly for England who are lagging in the series. Also, they would have wanted a couple more wickets at the end of the day given the fact that they inserted Australia to bat first after winning the toss.

Brief Scores

Australia 209/4 (U Khawaja 53, S Smith 47); ( J Anderson 1/45, C Overton 1/47)