Ashes 2021-22: Rory Burns reprieved early as Australia miss out an edge in Hobart

The fifth Ashes Test at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart is currently in progress. Thanks to Travis Head’s counter-attacking ton, Australia managed to post 303 runs in the first innings. England bowled well in the opening session only to let the opposition off the hook later. But they would still be happy that they have wrapped things up in the first session itself.

Their third opening pair of the series, Rory Burns and Zak Crawley opened the innings for the visitors. The former was dropped after the first two Tests but is back for this encounter as he replaced Haseeb Hameed who continued to struggle. However, England’s opening woes didn’t resolve as Burns was involved in a mix-up with Crawley early in the innings and was dismissed run-out only for a six-ball duck.

Interestingly, Burns was lucky in the first over of the innings itself. Mitchell Starc delivered a jaffa to end the over which the left-hander missed.  It was a good length delivery which angled in and just swayed away from the batter past the outside the edge.

Spike on ultra edge as ball passes the bat

The ball was pretty close to the bat but Australia players thought it was a play and a miss and didn’t appeal. However, the replays suggested that there was a clear spike on the ultra edge as the ball passed the bat. Australia missed a golden opportunity to pick up a wicket in the first over of the innings itself.

Here’s the video:

Did Burns hit that? #Ashes pic.twitter.com/XlXWs6ZnuE

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 15, 2022

But they didn’t have to wait for success much as England openers gifted them a wicket in the very next over. An attempt to steal a close single didn’t go well for them as Rory Burns was found short of his crease thanks to a direct hit from Marnus Labuschagne.

Burns’ Ashes series has turned into a nightmare already having scored only 51 runs in five innings with two ducks. He will be gutted with yet another missed opportunity to score runs and now will be looking to make amends in the second innings.