A memorable Edgbaston Ashes match is developing. In order to give Australia a 281-run target to win the first Test, England batted frantically for two sessions on the fourth day.
Stuart Broad then claimed two late wickets to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith, leaving the match in doubt overnight.
The largest partnership of the day, 61 runs made by David Warner and Usman Khawaja, marked the beginning of Australia’s pursuit. However, Ollie Robinson broke the game open by forcing Warner to take a thin outside edge, bringing Labuschagne to the crease on a king two and exciting the chaotic Hollies Stand in the early evening.
As he charged in from the Pavilion End, Stuart Broad established himself as the game’s main character. Inability to resist the urge to chase a wide delivery in the channel outside of his off stump that nipped away to remove his outside edge caused Labuschagne, who had reached 13, to be out for the remainder of the innings by the fourth ball.
The field was up when Smith left, and the volume had increased as well since Broad had raised the energy level of the crowd by standing at the top of his mark. Smith swung him away for four, but when Jonny Bairstow was edged through again, Broad saw another opportunity.
The ball swung in and took a shape away from the seam as Smith prepared to drive through cover. Broad pulled away after Bairstow took the catch, giving England the foothold they sought.
In order to give Australia a 1-0 lead on Tuesday, 174 more runs would be needed; England are seven wickets away. At the end of the innings, Khawaja left unharmed for the third time in four games with nightwatch Scott Boland. A tight finish is anticipated due to the morning’s predicted showers. The late-afternoon sun’s golden shine anticipates this.
In the midst of dense, heavy clouds on Sunday afternoon, Joe Root struggled to hold off eight balls before deciding to let go of his arms on Monday under clear sky. The day’s first ball, which he attempted to reverse-scoop over the slip cordon, was completely missed; nevertheless, he connected with balls six and seven, scoring six and then four with the same daring effort.
In an effort to stop the flow as Root and Ollie Pope traded boundaries, Pat Cummins expanded the field, but he ended up producing a ball that left his teammates useless. He launched a thunderous inswinger from a wide position on the crease that crept underneath Pope’s bat and tore his off stump out of the ground.
After joining Root, Harry Brook got things going quickly, picking lengths early, and scoring 13 runs off Nathan Lyon’s first over of the day. By the time of drinks, England had added 93 runs in 13.3 overs at a rate of 6.88 runs per over in the morning. Root himself kept moving quickly.
Root, however, went past one and fell four runs short of his half-century. In an attempt to lift Lyon up and over the leg side, he skipped down to a quickly spinning offbreak but was defeated by the turn. For the first time in his 131-match career, Alex Carey removed the bails, and Joe Root was out in a Test match.
Ben Stokes tried to get into a rhythm, but Josh Hazlewood and Lyon dried up England. He survived a strong lbw appeal from Lyon that Australia was unable to overturn, but Brook was dismissed when attempting to take the initiative and pull the same bowler straight to short midwicket.
Before lunch, a Boland in-ducker struck Bairstow on the pad, and he was ruled out in the over. However, he was able to appeal the judgment, and after the break, he sought to press forward by hitting back-to-back boundaries from Cummins. He was caught leg-before while attempting to reverse-sweep Lyon, making his innings the latest cameo for England.
Australia was in the lead and tried to overturn the situation by appealing to everyone else. Replays proved that Labuschagne had grounded the ball after he thought he had taken a dazzling catch to dismiss Robinson. Later, when Robinson played and missed at a short one, Labuschagne persuaded Cummins to burn their final review.
However, Moeen Ali gloved a draw behind as Hazlewood returned for the second time to expose the tail. Moeen Ali slashed Cummins for four and slog-swept Lyon for six. James Anderson managed to hit a couple of boundaries before steering Cummins into a swinging Carey’s left hand. Robinson added 27 valuable runs, surviving an assault of short balls before lifting Lyon straight to Cameron Green at long-on.
With England’s batting in an uproar, Cummins and Lyon combined for eight wickets and struck frequently. Ten of their eleven batters reached double figures, but none of them topped 50 runs, and their most valuable partnership—that of Root and Brook—was only worth 52.
After Khawaja pushed Anderson through the space between Bairstow and Root to score a streaky boundary through the slips, Australia’s progress remained calm. In large part, they were helped by Moeen’s troubles with a blistered spinning finger and their seamers’ inability to move on a slow, dry surface.
At least, until Warner’s dismissal resulted in the compelling 30-minute stretch. This battle of civilizations ought to last all the way to the end, if the weather permits.
