England managed to keep Australia down to 264 for 5 on Day Two of the first Ashes Test at Cardiff on Thursday. Chris Rogers was the star of the day for Australia with a solid 95, but all the other batsmen were guilty of squandering their starts. David Warner, Steven Smith, and Michael were guilty of throwing their wickets away with avoidable strokes. Live Blog: England (ENG) vs Australia (AUS) Ashes 2015 1st Test at Cardiff, Day 2
Warner was the first man to go, pushing hard at one from James Anderson which was caught wonderfully by Alastair Cook at slip for 17. Steven Smith got in and dominated Moeen, but was dismissed for good-looking 33 when he needlessly stepped out to try and hit Moeen over the top. He ended up getting a leading edge to silly mid on. Live Scorecard: England (ENG) vs Australia (AUS) Ashes 2015 1st Test at Cardiff, Day 2
Rogers entered exalted company when he scored his seventh half-century in as many innings. Rogers emulated the likes of Sir Everton Weekes, Andy Flower, Kumar Sangakkara, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the process. However, Rogers has not gone past 95 — which he got against India and again today — in the course of the seven-innings streak. He was the third man to be dismissed. After looking in complete control for the first 132 balls, nerves and anticipation got the better of him when on 95, as he tried to cut Mark Wood and only ended up edging to Jos Buttler. READ: Chris Rogers scores 7th successive half-century on Day Two of 1st Ashes Test at Cardiff
Clarke too was looking fluent on 38 till he stepped out off Moeen and only scooped back a return catch. At 207 for 4, Australia were in trouble but Adam Voges and Shane Watson rescued the visitors with a half-century stand. Both men were looking good, but in keeping with how the match progressed, a wicket fell against the run of play as Voges ended up hitting Ben Stokes to Anderson for 31. Nathan Lyon and Watson played through till the end of day’s play. READ: Ashes 2015 1st Test at Cardiff — Australia must learn to thrive on flat decks
Earlier in the day, Moeen and Broad scored some useful runs to take England to 430 all out. Moeen continued from his overnight score of 26, and ended up scoring 77 off just 88 deliveries. At the other end, Stuart Broad went on to score 18, with the duo adding an invaluable 52 to help England reach 400. READ: The Ashes 2015: England wasting Joe Root at No. 5
Broad was the first man out on the day, trying to slog sweep one from Nathan Lyon and getting an under edge to the ‘keeper Brad Haddin. His 18 came off 26 deliveries. Moeen continued to bat fluently, hitting 11 fours and a six in his 88-ball 77. He ended up edging Mitchell Starc to Shane Watson at slip. Starc then took his fifth wicket when he had James Anderson bowled for 1. READ: Ashes 2015 1st Test at Cardiff: Australia must learn to thrive on flat decks
On Day One. Joe Root, Gary Ballance, and Ben Stokes played defining knocks to take England from a precarious 43 for 3 in the first session to a commanding 343 for 7 at stumps. Root scored a terrific 134 off only 166 deliveries — it was the sixth fastest Ashes ton by an Englishman — while Ballance dug in for a 149-ball 61, and Ben Stokes hit a stroke-filled 52. For Australia, Mitchell Starc was wayward but managed to take wickets nonetheless, though Mitchell Johnson was largely ineffective on a low and slow Cardiff pitch. READ: Ashes 2015 no less than test of character for Clarke and Cook
Brief scores:
England 430 (Gary Ballance 61, Joe Root 134, Ben Stokes 52, Moeen Ali 77; Mitchell Starc 5 for 114, Josh Hazlewood 3 for 83) lead Australia 264 for 5 (Chris Rogers 95; Moeen Ali 2 for 67) by 166 runs.
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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