Australia vs England, 5th Ashes Test, Day 2 Stats Review: Stuart Broad scripts history, Pat Cummins' feat and other stats

For a change, an Ashes Test in Australia is played outside the five traditional venues of Gabba, Adelaide, MCG, SCG, and Perth. However,  there is no change in the visitors batting, as England collapsed yet again and conceded a massive first-innings lead. Even Joe Root, their lone warrior of 2021, couldn’t replicate his good form in the current Ashes series as he had the problem of facing incoming deliveries. Though most of the England players have got starts, none of them have managed to get a substantial score.

Their highest score being just 36 by number-eight batter Chris Woakes, is certainly a matter of concern. After a brilliant piece of fielding to get David Warner out straight away, it was the captain Pat Cummins who got two crucial breakthroughs. Proving once again why he’s the top-ranked Test bowler, Cummins took four wickets in this innings. Mitchell Starc carried on his unbelievable form with the pink ball, taking 3 wickets on the other end.

All this after Nathan Lyon added to England’s woes as they couldn’t get the tail out earlier in the day. However in the latter part of the day, England breathed a sigh of relief as they reduced Australia to 37/3. Australia, however, have a 152 run lead now. Given England’s batting woes, it would be a mountainous task for England to win this Test.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from Australia vs England, 5th Ashes Test Day 2:

129 – Stuart Broad now has most wickets for England in The Ashes with 129 scalps, overtaking the previous record of Ian Botham (128). Only Australians ahead of him are Shane Warne (195), Glenn McGrath (157) and Hugh Trumble (141). Broad’s figures of 8/15 are the fourth best for England in The Ashes.

3 – Sixes hit by Nathan Lyon so far, which is now the highest in a single innings in pink ball Tests. 7 players have hit two sixes in an innings.

2000 – Joe Root reaches 2000 runs in The Ashes, becoming the 30th player to reach the milestone. He is only the sixth player to score 2000 runs in the Ashes in the 21st century with the other five being Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Clarke, Alastair Cook and Steve Smith.

8 – This is the eighth time Pat Cummins dismissed Joe Root, tied with Josh Hazlewood for dismissing Root most times in Test cricket.

58 – After top-scoring comfortably in 2021, Joe Root has began Test cricket in 2022 with only 58 runs at an average of 19.3.

1 – Pat Cummins becomes the first bowler to take a four-wicket haul in an Ashes Test in Hobart.

20 – Pat Cummins becomes the first ever pacer to take at least 3 wickets in 20 consecutive Tests. The last time Cummins did not take at least three wickets in a Test was in the Sydney Test against India in 2019.

5 – Australia have now taken a first innings lead of at least 80 runs in all 5 Tests of this Ashes series.

2 – This is the second time David Warner was out for a pair in Test cricket. The first such match was against Manchester in 2019.

14 – The fourteenth time Warner was out to Stuart Broad in Test cricket. And it is the 17th time across all formats of international cricket. 4 of them are for ducks, including one in this innings.

66 – Total runs added by Australian top-3 batters in both innings combined. This is the lowest total by the Australian top-3 out in both innings during the 21st century.

Written By – Kausthub Gudipati