Ashes 2015: Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad’s 87 unlucky for Australia at Edgbaston

England made heavy weather of Australia’s 136 before Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad steered them clear. The contribution of the duo deserves a special mention in the context of a game, which hung in the balance upon their arrival. While James Anderson and Steven Finn will naturally steal the limelight, Ankur Dhawan felt it necessary to highlight the significance of the 87-run stand for the eighth wicket between Moeen and Broad.

Mitchell Johnson had swung the match downside up with two antagonistic bumpers to Jonathan Bairstow and Ben Stokes. Neither men had found their bearings on a tricky pitch, to be greeted by an other-worldly hostility. The duo gloved identical bouncers to Peter Nevill and left the arena mirroring each other’s discombobulated countenance. Within the space of three balls, England were five down for a microscopic lead of six. The floodgates had opened. Australia’s pace artillery were expected to wash away the rest of the pack like a violent whirlwind. Australia even had a crafty off-spinner to target the predominantly left-handed lower-order of England, should it come down to it, in the worst case scenario. READ: Steven Finn fifer ensures England advantage over Australia

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A well set Joe Root and a grappling Jos Buttler followed suit after staging a brief recovery. England were 190 for seven. A lead of 54 at the time wouldn’t suffice considering that they’d be the ones to bat last on an Edgbaston surface notorious for breaking up. England were tumbling down the familiar road to self-destruct, at a risk of nullifying all the good deeds of day one. READ: Michael Clarke’s captaincy in Ashes 2015 lacks flexibility

A salient feature of cricket’s rapid evolution in the last 15 years has been the attitude of tail-enders towards batting. From being considered a bonus, their runs are now indispensable. Pre-historic are days when being six down was like staring down a barrel with your arms tied behind. Genuine tail-enders are the rarest breed in existence today. In fact, teams which have dominated Test cricket in recent years have benefitted greatly from consistent contributions by their lower-order batsmen. A defining factor in England’s triumph over Australia at home in 2013 and Australia’s overwhelming riposte on England’s return leg was the contrasting fortunes of respective lower-orders. READ: James Anderson shows pace and bounce is not the only way to take wickets

The value of lower-order runs was reinforced by England’s No 8 and 9 at Edgbaston. Moeen’s transmogrification into a first choice spinner coupled with the rejuvenation of Stokes has strengthened England’s lower-order manifold. The hosts had wriggled out of a straightjacket mess at Cardiff with Stokes and Moeen serving as groomsmen to Root. This time Moeen was partnered by Broad who seems to have somewhat rediscovered his inner prompting. READ: The Ashes 2015: Where have all the batsmen gone?

The Edgbaston pitch had invariably produced a ball that had the batsman’s number, irrespective of the time one spent in the middle. It was futile for Moeen and Broad to graft, it isn’t their style anyway.

The red duke had also befriended Johnson and Nathan Lyon. The Australian fielders were hovering over the eighth-wicket pair in a predatory fashion.  The two left-handers were seemingly swimming against strong ocean currents. Both batsmen kept the tourists interested and the spectators at the edge of their seats through the course of their partnership. England played and missed, their counterparts oohed and aahed. Edges were induced regularly but repeatedly evaded catching fieldsmen as though repelled by anything that smelled remotely Aussie. It underlined the worthlessness of moral victories in sport. Murphy’s Law seemed to be in effect as Mitchell Starc completely lost his radar.

Clarke obviously didn’t have a lot of runs to play with, which resulted in him quickly retreating his troops as the lead zoomed past the 100-run mark. Moeen batted like he had nine lives. Luck wasn’t with him, it was within him. Shane Warne euphemistically stated that Moeen may have exhausted the luck of the rest of the England team. However, it didn’t take long for realisation to dawn that they wouldn’t be needing any more of it. The total had catapulted to 277 when the pair was finally separated, Finn did the rest with the ball. England stand on the brink of a series lead, Cook’s fingers are closing in on the urn.

(Ankur Dhawan, heavily influenced by dystopian novels, naturally has about 59 conspiracy theories for every moment in the game of cricket. On finding a direct link between his head and the tip of his fingers, he also writes about it)