CRICKET
Day 1: Warner, Labuschagne shine as Australia dominate
David Warner was dismissed in the nervous 90s for the second time in this series.
Warner played a superb knock but Stokes didn’t allow him to complete a well-deserved hundred as he dismissed Warner on 95.
Labuschagne is still unbeaten on 95 runs and he will be hoping to get his maiden Ashes ton tomorrow.
Australia 1st innings 221-2
Labuschagne 95* Broad 1-34. Warner 95 Smith 18*
Australian skipper Pat Cummins was ruled out of the second Test match just 3 hours before the start of the match.
The Australian cricket board confirmed that Pat Cummins made a contact with somebody who was tested Covid positive.
Although Pat Cummins got a negative PCR report he was still required to go for a 7 days isolation period for the safety of other players but Cummins will be available for the next game.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first.
The two experienced bowlers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad came back to the English side for the pink-ball Test.
Stuart Broad is playing his 150th Test match today for England.
On the other Michael Neser and Jhye Richardson got a chance to play in the absence of Cummins and Hazlewood.
It was a very tough first hour for the batting side as Anderson and Broad were bowling brilliantly.
Broad picked up the wicket of Marcus Harris early on in only the 8th over of the match.
The prolific Warner
Both Warner and Labuschagne struggled in the start as Australia managed to score just 1-11 in the first 10 overs and this was Australia’s slowest start in Test cricket in 20 years.
They negotiated the tough spells of Anderson and Broad with patience.
Both the batters started to open their arms when the ball got a little bit older and they once again built up a brilliant partnership for their side.
They scored 172 runs for the 2nd wicket and put Australia in a commanding position against England.
Both of them were brilliant under lights against the English bowlers.
David Warner is having an excellent series with the bat but unfortunately, he missing out on his centuries as now he has been dismissed in the 90s twice in this series.
Ben Stokes get rid of David Warner on 95 runs as he was dismissed just 5 runs short of a brilliant and well-deserving 100.
Marnus Labuschagne continued his innings and scored another unbeaten partnership of 45 runs with Steve Smith.
Labuschagne is still unbeaten on 95 runs and he just needs 5 runs to register his maiden hundred in Ashes.
Labuschagne has been brilliant with the bat in the last couple of years and he is now considered as one of the most reliable batters for his side in Test cricket.
Steve Smith is also unbeaten on 18 runs and Australia will be eyeing a big 1st innings total on day 2.