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ADELAIDE (Reuters) - Josh Hazlewood snuffed out England’s hopes of a remarkable second Ashes test triumph with two wickets in the first 16 balls of the final day as Australia wrapped up a 120-run victory in brilliant sunshine at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.

Cricket - Ashes test match - Australia v England - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia, December 6, 2017. Australia's Josh Hazlewood celebrates taking the wicket of England's captain Joe Root during the fifth day of the second Ashes cricket test match. REUTERS/David Gray

England, with six wickets in hand, needed 178 runs to win the maiden day-night Ashes test and level the series at 1-1 but fell well short of their victory target and will head to Perth 2-0 down with three matches to play.

Left-arm quick Mitchell Starc mopped up the tail with the new pink ball to take five for 88, his eighth five-wicket haul in tests, but Hazlewood shared the plaudits after his key early intervention.

The paceman delivered a hefty blow when he removed Chris Woakes with the second ball of the day and two overs later landed a knockout punch when he had Joe Root caught behind before the England captain could add to his overnight 67.

“If I‘m being honest, I was a little nervous last night,” said Australia captain Steve Smith.

“So it was very pleasing that Josh was able to come out and do what he did this morning, and obviously to get the wicket of Root really put us in a good position and I was able to breathe a little more easily.”

Root’s innings was always going to be crucial to his team’s chances of chasing down a record 354 at Adelaide Oval and although the innings limped on into a second hour, the hope raised among the English on Tuesday was gone.

The dismissal of Woakes had an element of fortune in that the feather the nightwatchman got on the ball was picked up by snicko but not the hotspot when it was referred.

Root, however, walked after he got late to a good length delivery from Hazlewood and the ball nicked off his bat into the welcoming gloves of Tim Paine.

Moeen Ali, who made two off 20 balls, used up England’s last DRS referral when he attempted a sweep off Nathan Lyon with the ball-tracking only confirming the umpire’s lbw decision.

Starc then got to work with the new ball and Craig Overton (7) departed plumb lbw from the first delivery with it, Stuart Broad following not so long afterwards.

Jonny Bairstow, England’s last recognisable batsman, had stood tall for 36 in difficult circumstances but edged another Starc fizzer onto his middle stump and the tourists were all out for 233.

 

”Obviously very disappointing,“ said Root. ”I don’t think we did ourselves justice today.

“But we’re still massively in the series. We showed that from the way we played yesterday.”

Smith had been relying on his bowlers to save his embarrassment after he failed to enforce the follow-on and England’s bowlers got them back into the game.

The hosts got 442-8 declared on the back of Man of the Match Shaun Marsh’s 126 not out before dismissing England for 227 but Smith sent his batsmen back in only for James Anderson and Woakes to bowl them out for 138.

Only one captain in the long history of test cricket had previously lost a test after opting not to enforce the follow-on and Smith was grateful to his bowlers for getting him out of a hole.

“Over the last day or so I have had a few different thoughts about it and I’ve read a lot of things, but in the end we won the game so it’s irrelevant,” he said.

Although the final day’s attendance could not quite push the already record total for the test over the 200,000 mark, there was no doubt that day-night Ashes cricket is here to stay.

Australia 1st innings 442 for 8 decl (S. Marsh 126no, T. Paine 57, U. Khawaja 53)

England   1st innings 227            (N. Lyon 4-60)                              

Australia 2nd innings 138            (J. Anderson 5-43, C. Woakes 4-36)          

England 2nd innings (Overnight: 176-4; Target: 354 runs)

A. Cook                          lbw b Lyon            16 

M. Stoneman                      c Khawaja b Starc     36 

J. Vince                         c Handscomb b Starc   15 

J. Root                          c Paine b Hazlewood   67 

D. Malan                         b Cummins             29 

C. Woakes                        c Paine b Hazlewood   5  

M. Ali                           lbw b Lyon            2  

J. Bairstow                      b Starc               36 

C. Overton                       lbw b Starc           7  

S. Broad                         c Paine b Starc       8  

J. Anderson                      not out               0  

Extras                           (b-7 lb-5)            12 

Total                            (all out, 84.2 overs) 233

Fall of wickets: 1-53 A. Cook,2-54 M. Stoneman,3-91 J. Vince,4-169 D. Malan,5-176 C. Woakes,6-177 J. Root,7-188 M. Ali,8-206 C. Overton,9-224 S. Broad,10-233 J. Bairstow

Bowling                    

M. Starc                         19.2 - 3 - 88 - 5        

J. Hazlewood                     20 - 7 - 49 - 2          

P. Cummins                       20 - 6 - 39 - 1          

N. Lyon                          25 - 6 - 45 - 2          

 

ADELAIDE (Reuters) - England were 178 runs from a stunning comeback victory in the second Ashes test after James Anderson grabbed five wickets and Joe Root steered the tourists to 176 for four at close of play on an extraordinary fourth day on Tuesday.

Root, who eked out a half century under the Adelaide Oval lights, will probably need to stay out in the sun for much of the fifth day if he is to lead England to a first test win in Australia in nearly seven years.

The tourists will resume with Root 67 not out and Chris Woakes, unbeaten on five, keeping his skipper company after Dawid Malan was bowled for 29 by a Pat Cummins snorter shortly before the close.

Australia skipper Steve Smith will be hoping his bowlers can keep up the pressure on the final day and help him avoid the ignominy of becoming only the second captain to lose a test after not enforcing the follow-on.

Anderson (5-43) and Woakes (4-36) had fired England’s resurgence when they did the lion’s share of the work of dismissing the Australians for 138 at tea with a brilliant display of seam bowling.

Set a ground record 354 to win the test and level the series after last week’s 10-wicket Brisbane defeat, England made a steady start before losing openers Alastair Cook (16) and Mark Stoneman (36) in the last half an hour of the second session.

It was to the third session that Australia’s quicks would have been looking to make serious inroads into the England batting, however, and when James Vince was quickly caught in the slips off Mitchell Starc for 15, it looked to be going to plan.

England had started to enjoy the best of the DRS system, however, with Root first overturning an lbw decision off the bowling of Nathan Lyon and seeing a Smith review fail when the Australian suspected an inside edge.

Smith left his team with no referrals for what could be a tense final day a couple of balls later when he pursued an lbw decision against Malan only for the tracking to show the ball would have gone over the wickets.

Root, cheered on by the vocal Barmy Army of England fans on the hill under the historic scoreboard, made the most of the reprieve and reached his fifty with a lovely back cut for four, one of nine he peppered throughout his gritty 114-ball knock.

Anderson had earlier picked up where he left off in Monday’s night session, dismissing nightwatchman Lyon, a jittery Peter Handscomb and Starc to snare his maiden five-wicket haul in four tours to Australia.

Woakes chipped in to see off Tim Paine and Shaun Marsh cheaply, making sure the latter was unable to get anywhere near the unbeaten 126 he hit to underpin Australia’s 442 for eight declared in the first innings.

England had looked certain to go 2-0 down in the series when they folded for 227 in reply until Anderson finally found his mojo with the pink kookaburra in the inaugural Ashes day-nighter.

Australia 1st innings 442 for 8 decl (S. Marsh 126no, T. Paine 57, U. Khawaja 53)

England   1st innings 227            (N. Lyon 4-60)                              

Australia 2nd innings (Overnight: 53-4)

C. Bancroft                      c Bairstow b Anderson     4  

D. Warner                        c Root b Woakes           14 

U. Khawaja                       lbw b Anderson            20 

S. Smith                         lbw b Woakes              6  

P. Handscomb                     c Malan b Anderson        12 

N. Lyon                          c Broad b Anderson        14 

S. Marsh                         b Woakes                  19 

T. Paine                         c C. Overton b Woakes     11 

M. Starc                         c Ali b Anderson          20 

P. Cummins                       not out                   11 

J. Hazlewood                     c Malan b C. Overton      3  

Extras                           (lb-2 w-2)                4  

Total                            (all out, 58 overs)       138

Fall of wickets: 1-5 C. Bancroft,2-39 U. Khawaja,3-41 D. Warner,4-50 S. Smith,5-71 N. Lyon,6-75 P. Handscomb,7-90 T. Paine,8-122 S. Marsh,9-128 M. Starc,10-138 J. Hazlewood

To bat:

Bowling                    

J. Anderson                      22 - 7 - 43 - 5(w-1)         

S. Broad                         13 - 6 - 26 - 0(w-1)         

C. Overton                       2 - 0 - 11 - 1               

C. Woakes                        16 - 3 - 36 - 4              

M. Ali                           5 - 0 - 20 - 0               

England 2nd innings (Target: 354 runs)

A. Cook                          lbw b Lyon                16 

M. Stoneman                      c Khawaja b Starc         36 

J. Vince                         c Handscomb b Starc       15 

J. Root                          not out                   67 

D. Malan                         b Cummins                 29 

C. Woakes                        not out                   5  

Extras                           (b-3 lb-5)                8  

Total                            (for 4 wickets, 62 overs) 176

Fall of wickets: 1-53 A. Cook,2-54 M. Stoneman,3-91 J. Vince,4-169 D. Malan

England: M. Ali, J. Bairstow, S. Broad, C. Overton, J. Anderson

Bowling                    

M. Starc                         14 - 2 - 65 - 2              

J. Hazlewood                     14 - 5 - 37 - 0               

P. Cummins                       14 - 5 - 29 - 1              

N. Lyon                          20 - 5 - 37 - 1

 

England finally fire but Australia in charge in Adelaide

ADELAIDE (Reuters) - England finally got the pink ball to swing on the third night of the second Ashes test on Monday but it still looked too little, too late and Australia will go into day four on 53 for four with a lead of 268 runs.

Australia skipper Steve Smith elected not to enforce the follow-on after the tourists were dismissed for 227, a first-innings deficit of 215, and probably rued his decision as England attacked under the Adelaide Oval lights.

James Anderson led the way with the wickets of Cameron Bancroft (four) and Usman Khawaja (20) while Chris Woakes removed David Warner with a delivery that moved off the seam and got an edge to fly to Joe Root in the slips.

That the usually free-scoring Warner took 60 balls to eke out 14 runs was an indication of how tough the conditions were and captain could have followed vice-captain in the following over when Smith was given out lbw for a three-ball duck.

For the third time in two days, however, Anderson was denied an lbw decision by the DRS system with tracking suggesting the ball had pitched fractionally outside leg.

NO REPRIEVE

Smith only survived to make six runs, though, before he was given out lbw to Woakes and this time there was to be no reprieve from the technology.

“We’ve pushed Australia back tonight,” Woakes said. “Australia are obviously still ahead in the game but it was important that we bowled well, showed some character and pushed them back.”

Nightwatchman Nathan Lyon survived to the end of the day and will resume with Peter Handscomb. Both were three not out.

“We know the night session is toughest to bat, as we saw tonight,” Starc said.

With a lead of 260 going into the day session, we’re in the drivers’ seat. There’s no reason why we can’t build a really big lead and then have England on the ropes in the night session.”

Lyon had earlier taken 4-60 as he and the pace trio of Pat Cummins, Starc and Josh Hazlewood combined to humble England’s top order and build on the 442-8 declared the hosts accumulated in their first innings.

England, 1-0 down in the five-match series after a 10-wicket defeat in Brisbane, had resumed on 29-1 only to lose James Vince for two in the second over.

Desperate for a decent partnership to bolster the top order, expectations were high when Root came out to join Alastair Cook in the middle.

Root made just nine before he got a thick edge to a Cummins delivery, however, and Cook departed for 37 prodding at a Lyon tweaker with Smith gobbling up the catch at first slip.

Australia 1st innings 442 for 8 decl (S. Marsh 126no, T. Paine 57, U. Khawaja 53)

England 1st innings (Overnight: 29-1)

A. Cook                          c Smith b Lyon            37 

M. Stoneman                      lbw b Starc               18 

J. Vince                         c Paine b Hazlewood       2  

J. Root                          c Bancroft b Cummins      9  

D. Malan                         c Paine b Cummins         19 

M. Ali                           c&b Lyon              25 

J. Bairstow                      c&b Starc             21 

C. Woakes                        c&b Starc             36 

C. Overton                       not out                   41 

S. Broad                         c Paine b Lyon            3  

J. Anderson                      lbw b Lyon                0  

Extras                           (lb-15 w-1)               16 

Total                            (all out, 76.1 overs)     227

Fall of wickets: 1-29 M. Stoneman,2-31 J. Vince,3-50 J. Root,4-80 A. Cook,5-102 D. Malan,6-132 M. Ali,7-142 J. Bairstow,8-208 C. Woakes,9-227 S. Broad,10-227 J. Anderson

Bowling                     

M. Starc                         20 - 4 - 49 - 3              

J. Hazlewood                     16 - 3 - 56 - 1              

P. Cummins                       16 - 3 - 47 - 2(w-1)         

N. Lyon                          24.1 - 5 - 60 - 4             

Australia 2nd innings      

C. Bancroft                      c Bairstow b Anderson     4  

D. Warner                        c Root b Woakes           14 

U. Khawaja                       lbw b Anderson            20 

S. Smith                         lbw b Woakes              6  

P. Handscomb                     not out                   3  

N. Lyon                          not out                   3  

Extras                           (lb-2 w-1)                3  

Total                            (for 4 wickets, 26 overs) 53 

Fall of wickets: 1-5 C. Bancroft,2-39 U. Khawaja,3-41 D. Warner,4-50 S. Smith

Australia: S. Marsh, T. Paine, M. Starc, P. Cummins, J. Hazlewood

Bowling                    

J. Anderson                      11 - 7 - 16 - 2              

S. Broad                         7 - 2 - 14 - 0(w-1)          

C. Overton                       1 - 0 - 8 - 0                

C. Woakes                        7 - 0 - 13 - 2

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Marsh century puts Australia in charge in Adelaide

ADELAIDE (Reuters) - Australia took firm control of the second Ashes test when an unbeaten century from Shaun Marsh pushed the hosts to 442 for eight declared in their first innings on the second day of the day-night contest on Sunday.

Cricket - Ashes test match - Australia v England - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia, December 3, 2017 - Australia's Shaun Marsh celebrates after reaching his century during the second day of the second Ashes cricket test match. REUTERS/David Gray

The tourists, who sent the Australians in to bat after winning the toss on Saturday, had made 29 for one in reply when rain brought a premature end to the day’s play at Adelaide Oval.

It looked like something of a reprieve for England, who had already lost Mark Stoneman for 18 to leave Alastair Cook, unbeaten on 11, and James Vince, yet to score, facing a night assault from Australia’s pace battery.

Marsh had earlier put the hosts on the front foot with his fifth test century, a 231-ball vindication of the decision by the Australian selectors to hand the 34-year-old his eighth test recall.

”We knew if we could bat for most of the day and put them in under lights we’d be a chance,“ Marsh told reporters. ”To be nice and patient, and get a hundred there at the end was pleasing.

“It’s great to be playing for Australia and just to be out there in the middle.”

Marsh had to grit it out at times as England produced a much improved bowling performance after a disappointing day one and had the Decision Review System (DRS) to thank for a life after initially being given out lbw to James Anderson on 29.

Tim Paine, who joined Marsh at the crease when Stuart Broad dismissed Peter Handscomb lbw with the third delivery of the day, was similarly reprieved when tracking showed an Anderson delivery would have gone over the stumps.

Marsh put on 85 with Paine as the two most controversial selections in the Australia squad for the first two tests frustrated England before the wicketkeeper holed out for 57 -- a third test half century coming seven years after his second.

The left-hander then put together a stand of 99 with Pat Cummins, reaching the hundred mark in the process with a sumptuous pull off a Chris Woakes delivery which raced to the square leg boundary for his 12th four.

The batsman whipped off his helmet to acknowledge the applause of another bumper crowd at the Adelaide Oval and almost immediately had another reprieve when Cook and James Vince collided in the gully with neither able to take a simple catch.

If much of Marsh’s progress to the century had been a stop-start affair, there was nothing cautious about the way he punished the tourists for their profligacy after the break as Steve Smith pondered the declaration.

With Cummins initially providing back-up with his highest test score, a seven-boundary 44, Marsh added three more fours and a punishing straight six off Broad to finish unbeaten on 126 when Smith finally called him in.

“Some days it goes your ways and some it doesn‘t,” England coach Trevor Bayliss said.

Australia declare on 442-8 in second Ashes test

“There’s a good feeling in the dressing room. They’re certainly not disheartened at all. Shaun showed it’s not impossible to score runs out there. It will be up to one of our guys to go out and make a bit score, not just 40 or 50.”

England, already 1-0 down in the five-match series after a 10-wicket loss in Brisbane last week, made a reasonable start before Mitchell Starc sent down a fizzing yorker that trapped Stoneman in front.

To add insult to injury on a day when the DRS had worked so well for Australia, Stoneman referred the decision, only for the tracking to show the ball would have clattered into his leg stump.

Australia 1st innings (Overnight: 209-4)

C. Bancroft                      run out (Woakes)                    10 

D. Warner                        c Bairstow b Woakes                 47 

U. Khawaja                       c Vince b Anderson                  53 

S. Smith                         b C. Overton                        40 

P. Handscomb                     lbw b Broad                         36 

S. Marsh                         not out                             126

T. Paine                         c Ali b C. Overton                  57 

M. Starc                         c Anderson b Broad                  6  

P. Cummins                       c Malan b C. Overton                44 

N. Lyon                          not out                             10 

Extras                           (b-6 lb-6 w-1)                      13 

Total                            (for 8 wickets declared, 149 overs) 442

Fall of wickets: 1-33 C. Bancroft,2-86 D. Warner,3-139 U. Khawaja,4-161 S. Smith,5-209 P. Handscomb,6-294 T. Paine,7-311 M. Starc,8-410 P. Cummins

Did not bat: J. Hazlewood

Bowling                    

J. Anderson                      31 - 5 - 74 - 1                        

S. Broad                         30 - 11 - 72 - 2                       

C. Woakes                        27 - 4 - 84 - 1(w-1)                   

C. Overton                       33 - 3 - 105 - 3                       

M. Ali                           24 - 3 - 79 - 0                        

J. Root                          4 - 0 - 16 - 0                         

England 1st innings        

A. Cook                          not out                             11 

M. Stoneman                      lbw b Starc                         18 

J. Vince                         not out                             0  

Extras                                                               0  

Total                            (for 1 wickets, 9.1 overs)          29 

Fall of wickets: 1-29 M. Stoneman

To bat: J. Root, D. Malan, M. Ali, J. Bairstow, C. Woakes, S. Broad, C. Overton, J. Anderson

Bowling                    

M. Starc                         5 - 1 - 13 - 1                         

J. Hazlewood                     4 - 2 - 16 - 0                         

P. Cummins                       0.1 - 0 - 0 - 0       

 

ADELAIDE (Reuters) - Craig Overton made Australia captain Steve Smith his maiden test victim but England could not drive home their advantage under the Adelaide lights and the hosts finished the first day of day-night Ashes cricket on 209 for four on Saturday.

It was the story of the day for the tourists after captain Joe Root had won the toss and sent the Australians in to bat under ashen skies only for his bowlers to fail to make the breakthroughs the decision demanded.

Peter Handscomb, who was 36 not out, and Shaun Marsh, unbeaten on 20, batted out the remainder of a tense final session and will resume on day two as Australia look to build on their thumping 10-wicket victory in the opener at the Gabba.

“At the end of the day whether you bat or you bowl, you’ve got to do it well,” Australia batsman Usman Khawaja said.

“I wouldn’t say we’re streets ahead but I’d say we’re pretty happy with four for 200. It’ll all depend on how we bat tomorrow, though.”

Australia survived the rain-disrupted first session with all 10 wickets intact and openers Cameron Bancroft, run out for 10, and David Warner, caught behind for 47, departed in an extended second.

England struck straight after the second break to remove Khawaja for 53, leaving Smith, whose unbeaten 141 was the difference between the sides in Brisbane, to again carry the burden.

With what sun there had been long gone and the Adelaide Oval bathed in the bright artificial light, though, Overton found the perfect length with an off-cutter and Smith played on for 40 - his bails flashing red as they flew into the night air.

“It was a pretty nice one,” said Overton, who came in for Jake Ball in the only change to the England side. ’

”He’s one of the best players in the world and so good to get that one to start with and, hopefully, I can continue with that tomorrow.

“We’re pretty happy even though we didn’t quite get the rewards we wanted. We’ll come back tomorrow with a new ball and hopefully take a couple of early ones and then we’ll be right on top.”

The crowd of 55,317 was a record for cricket at the ground, bettering the 50,962 that packed into the ground for the second day of the 1933 “Bodyline” test.

Although relations between the sides have not yet approached the lows of that series, there were plenty of words exchanged in the middle and umpire Aleem Dar at one stage felt the need to step between Smith and England’s James Anderson.

Anderson verbal aggression was reflected in his bowling in the final session when he had Khawaja caught by James Vince at gully but he and fellow pace spearhead Stuart Broad will be disappointed with their earlier contribution.

It was Chris Woakes who ended more than 80 overs over the last two tests without a wicket for an England bowler when he lured Warner into a thick edge that Jonny Bairstow swallowed up behind the stumps.

The seamer should have had his second wicket before the end of the second session but Mark Stoneman dropped a Khawaja top edge at deep backward square and the left-hander had time to bring up his ninth half century with a crisp four.

Australia 1st innings       

C. Bancroft                      run out (Woakes)          10 

D. Warner                        c Bairstow b Woakes       47 

U. Khawaja                       c Vince b Anderson        53 

S. Smith                         b C. Overton              40 

P. Handscomb                     not out                   36 

S. Marsh                         not out                   20 

Extras                           (lb-3)                    3  

Total                            (for 4 wickets, 81 overs) 209

Fall of wickets: 1-33 C. Bancroft,2-86 D. Warner,3-139 U. Khawaja,4-161 S. Smith

To bat: T. Paine, M. Starc, P. Cummins, J. Hazlewood, N. Lyon

Bowling                    

J. Anderson                      20 - 3 - 45 - 1              

S. Broad                         19 - 7 - 39 - 0              

C. Woakes                        15 - 2 - 50 - 1              

C. Overton                       17 - 3 - 47 - 1              

M. Ali                           10 - 1 - 25 - 0