Ashes 2013-14: Australia close in on victory after Day 3; England at 24/2 chasing 561

David Warner (left) and Michael Clarke scored centuries on Day Three of the first Ashes 2013-14 Test at the Gabba © Getty Images

By Shrikant Shankar

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Nov 23, 2013

England are at 24 for two chasing a monumental target of 561 at stumps on Day Three of the first Ashes 2013-14 Test in Brisbane at The Gabba. Australia declared their second innings at 401 for seven. David Warner top-scored with 124 and Michael Clarke scored 113. Alastair Cook (11) and Kevin Pietersen (3) are at the crease for England.

Michael Carberry was the first wicket to fall for a duck in England’s second innings. Ryan Harris’s delivery trickled down of Carberry’s bat and went in-between his legs to clip the stumps. Jonathan Trott was the next man in and he seemed to look for runs from the offset. Trott got one down the leg side from Mitchell Johnson and he hopped to the off side to play a hook for a four towards the fine-leg region.

He fell immediately after as another short delivery from Johnson was pulled, but straight to Nathan Lyon at deep square-leg. It was a poor shot selection from Trott. He has been set up far too often in the last few Test matches.

Kevin Pietersen walked out into the middle. He dropped the first ball he faced on the off-side and took off. Alastair Cook had to dive to get into the crease at the striker’s end. But he was lucky as Warner’s throw was accurate, but George Bailey clipped one bail off before collecting the ball. That is enough for Cook to make his ground.

The day ended without any further wickets falling. England need another unlikely 537 runs to win. Australia need eight wickets to go 1-0 up in the series and they have two whole days to get them.

The post-tea session began with Australia already at a commanding lead of 458 runs with their score at 299 for five. Graeme Swann struck quickly as he bowled Bailey for 34. The batsman played for turn, but the ball went straight after pitching on middle-stump from round the wicket.

Johnson joined Brad Haddin out in the middle. Australia’s already massive lead allowed Haddin and Johnson to just throw their bat at everything. James Anderson got pummelled for three fours in one over by Haddin. The first two flashed off the blade of the bat and went over the slip cordon for a boundary each. The third was pulled through mid-wicket. Haddin then pulled Stuart Broad as well to get another four.

After a while both Anderson and Broad bowled what is called as chin music. They received the same from Johnson and Harris when they were batting. But the batsmen were in the modd and easily fended it off. Haddin, in fact, went after the bouncers and got a few fours.

Chris Tremlett too bowled one short, but Johnson slapped it over the bowler’s head with a cross-batted shot for a two. Johnson then hit one straight down the ground for a four off Tremlett. Johnson, who is known for brute hitting, then played a delicate sweep off Swann that raced away for a four down the fine-leg region.

The left-hander then showcased his power hitting as he smashed one against the angle off Tremlett and got a four towards the long-on region. Haddin got to his second half-century of the match. He saved Australia’s first innings with an important 94 and in the second innings, he took the game completely away from England.

Johnson targeted Swann as he slog swept the off-spinner for a four towards the deep mid-wicket region. He actually could have been caught, but Carberry misjudged the flight and ran far too infield as the ball just bounced in front of the boundary line.

Haddin’s enterprising innings came to an end as he hit one straight to Anderson at mid-off to hand Tremlett his third wicket of the innings. The duo strung together a 90-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Peter Siddle was the new man and he chipped one over the mid-on fielder to get off the mark with a four. Clarke declared the innings with Australia’s score at 401 for seven. The target set for England was 561.

Brief scores:

Australia 295 (David Warner 49, Brad Haddin 94, Mitchell Johnson 64; Stuart Broad 6 for 81) and 401 for 7 decl. (David Warner 124, Michael Clarke 113; Chris Tremlett 3 for 69) lead England 136 (Michael Carberry 40, Stuart Broad 32; Mitchell Johnson 4 for 61, Ryan Harris 3 for 28) and 24 for 2 (Alastair Cook 11*) by 537 runs.

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(Shrikant Shankar is a writer/reporter at CricketCountry.com. Previously he has done audio commentary for various matches involving India, Indian Premier League and Champions League Twenty20 for ESPNSTAR.com. You can follow him on Twitter @Shrikant_23)