Stuart Broad claimed a double 5-wicket
haul in the Fourth Test at Durham`s Chester-Le-Street, as England made it an
unassailable 3-0 series lead thanks to the sublime bowling of the Nottingham
Fast man.
The England bowler`s amazing spell took a
game that saw them looking to be on the verge of losing the test match, to
winning the game.
Broad produced a bowling spell that was
equal to Flintoff`s spell back in the 2005 Ashes series, when Flintoff torn into the Aussies and turned the game on
it`s head just like Broad did in the evening session.
Alistair Cook elected once again too put
to his men into bat first on this tricky Chester-le-Street pitch track.
England`s Openers found runs very difficult to come by as the pitch was playing
pretty slow and wasn`t offering much in the way of bounce for the batsmen and
not much to the bowlers either.
It took the 10th over of the Innings for
England to finally register their first boundary of the morning, as Joe Root
played a pull shot which ran away for four.
Root and Cook were playing very
contrasting innings indeed, with Root going for the speedy approach like he was
in one day mode, whilst Cook when for the methodical type of innings slow and
deliberate.
England lost their first wicket of the
day, as Joe Root was out for (16) when a Shane Watson delivery was
faintly edged behind to Haddin with the gloves, as it took a review from the
Australian`s to get out after Tony Hill, not for the first time in this game
made a poor decision, But thanks to DRS the right decision was made and Root
departed with England on 34 for 1.
Scoring was becoming attritional, with it being
so hard to gain runs on this slow track with the batsmen struggling to find the
gap`s in the field and didn`t help at all to build an innings.
In the Afternoon session England had
slowly put on 107 with Cook on 34 and then Jonathon Trott went on (49),
as he edged a shot off his pads to the diving Usman Khawaja who took a good
catch to remove him from the crease off the bowling of Nathan Lyon.
Kevin Pietersen had looked on course for a
good score for England as he had played a careful innings with no ill timed
shots, then from nowhere Pietersen nicked one just to the Keeper and he walked
off for (26) as England has lost 3 of their opening four batsmen for
149.
Alistair Cook fell shortly after he scored
his half century, when Jackson Bird picked up his first Ashes Wicket of his
career as he trapped the England Captain lbw for (51), when the
Captain was giving out plum as he didn`t play a shot. England`s top order
batsmen failed to yet again get in and get a big score on this slow wicket
which only offered a bit of spin for Lyon compared to the other bowlers.
Ian Bell then played a poor shot to Ryan
Harris of Nathan Lyon bowling, as England`s top batsmen in this series thrown
his wicket away for (6) as England were 155 for 5.
Matt Prior poor form continued with the
bat when Peter Siddle got the England wicket keeper out for (17) after reviewing an lbw decision that
was given not out by Aleem Dar, but the replays suggested it was knocking leg
stump out.
Johnny Bairstow went for (14) as
the Yorkshireman failed to show his batting prowess once again in this series,
as well as his fellow top order batsmen have shown in this series too.
This time it took another review to
dislodge the batsman from the crease, when Bairstow attempted a sweep that
missed and hit and struck his pads in-line of the stumps. Hawk-eye shown it was
just clipping the bails but it was left to the on-field "Umpires
call".
Australia`s bowler`s were crushing England
as they shown great patience and perseverance with the ball as it wasn`t doing
to much at all , but they seemed to still tear into the England side.
Stuart Broad was out for a duck as he
played an awful shot to David Warner off the bowling of Ryan Harris, who
grabbed a deserved wicket for all his good bowling as England were really struggling on 198 for
8.
Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan tried to stem
the tide of falling England wickets around them, sadly for the hosts Swann
tried to be aggressive and help England get some runs on the board but his
Innings came to an end as he scored (13) runs befor he hooked straight
to still Nathan Lyon who took the catch and England were 214 for 9.
Australia polished off the England Innings
with the 2nd over of the Day 2 ,with Jackson Bird getting James Anderson out
for (16) as England were
bowled out for 238 in the end.
Australia came to the crease for their
First Innings and it didn`t get off to the best of starts for the tourist`s, as
Stuart Broad bowled David Warner for (3) as the ball just hit the top of
Warner`s off stump to get the Aussie man out.
Usman Khawaja was out for a duck, when he
nicked it with the toe end of the bat and it went safely into the gloves of
Matt Prior as Australia found themselves 12 for 2 and looking in trouble.
Michael Clarke came and went for (6),
with that man Stuart Broad once again making the breakthrough ,as his delivery
to the Australia Captain saw him edge to slip in the direction of Cook, who
took the catch of his opposite number and Australia were badly struggling in
the reply to their hosts as they posted 49 for 3.
Tim Bresnan then got in on the act, when
he dispatched Steve Smith for 17 as
Smith was indecisive with a Bresnan delivery and edged to the gloves of Prior which
saw Australia go four down for 76 and England were going through the Aussies as
the Tourists had with the hosts.
England then came unstuck when the
partnership between Chris Rogers and Shane Watson saw them move from 76-4 to
205 for 5.
Watson tried to flicked the ball down leg
side off a poor delievery by Broad, but it managed to get the Aussie star man
out for 68.
Rogers moved nearer his maiden Hundred as
he played carefully and blocked a lot of the following deliveries. Rogers finally
grabbed a thoroughly deserved Century, when he swept home a Graeme Swann ball to
the boundary as he celebrated his first Test hundred.
Rogers had used up his lives, after having
a few lucky escapes on a couple of occasions despite being given not out by the
clueless umpires noticeably, Tony Hill.
England Captain Alistair Cook asked for a review
and it shown a feint mark on the glove on hotspot which saw Prior take the
catch to dismiss him for a wonderful 110.
Peter Siddle was next to leave the crease
as James Anderson grabbed a wicket thanks to the safe hands of Alistair Cook in
the slips, which saw him leave on 5.
Anderson took his second wicket as he trapped Nathan Lyon lbw for 4, before Ryan Harris went for 28 which gave Stuart Broad another
wicket, only after overturning a Tony Hill not out decision, which led to Cook
asking for the review and the replay shown he was plumb lbw.
The players saw the replay and had started
to walk off the field , while Hill just stood on his own out in the middle and
had to overturn the decision and it shown he was inept on Umpiring and something
that ICC should look into.
Australia finished up on 279 All Out and a lead of 32 as England kicked off their 2nd
Innings of the match.
England needed a good platform on which to
bat on in their 2nd Innings as they knew they needed to have a score
in mind as to what to defend in the 4th Innings of the match when Australia
batted.
Australia started with the wickets
tumbling, when Ryan Harris bowled out of form Joe Root out for 2, the Captain Alistair Cook
went for 22 when he played at a ball that he
should have left alone from Harris, but the England Captain tickled the ball to
Haddin and the Hosts were 42-2 or 10 for 2 in other terms.
Things got better for the tourists, when
Jonathon Trott went for 23 after a deflection off his glove
was taken by Haddin off the bowling of Harris once again, it seemed the Aussies
were in full control now of England, not for the first time was the upper order
failing to score and capitulate again.
Kevin Pietersen was playing a good
important Innings for England when he and Ian Bell mounted a recovery operation
to repair the damage done to the top order mainly by Ryan Harris.
Pietersen then had a usual rush of blood
and seen him take on spinner Nathan Lyon too much and it cost him as the Spinner
got the wicket of Pietersen, when he found Rogers at cover to take the catch and
he when for 44, and had put his side
back in trouble as the score was 155-4 and more importantly a lead of 123.
Once again the Umpires tried to spoil the
match, when they got together and decided the light was so bad that they took
the players off for Bad light, which was so bad that that came back on to the
field in under 2 minutes. The farce had players shaking their collective heads,
fans made their feelings known with booing and the commentators went ballistic
with the officials looking weak and stupid with their decision making, which has
been poor all series in all honesty.
Play got back underway and 30 minutes
later, Johnny Bairstow wasted another chance of a good score when he edged
behind from Nathan Lyon spinning delivery and he went for 28.
Ian Bell scored his third century of the
series before we reached the end of Day 3, Bell had played a very controlled
and thought out innings which helped England to reasonable lead so far into
their second Innings. The England batsmen came in at 49-3 with the top order
struggling to fire once again and gain a decent score between them as England
closed on 221/5.
Bell returned to the crease alongside Tim
Bresnan on Day 4 with the two batsman adding 30 runs on to the overnight score.
This day would become an unforgettable day for England players and fans alike ,though
it looked like a pipe dream as the
majority of the day seemed to be favouring the Australian`s as they had victory
in their hands.
Ian Bell lost his wicket to Ryan Harris after
the Aussie bowler produced a great low cutting ball to finally remove the
Warwickshire man as he got a standing ovation back to the changing room for 113.
Matt Prior carried on his miserable series
with the bat as his off stump was knocked out the ground for 0 and Harris was on a
hat-trick now.
Stuart Broad came to the crease and made a
little cameo appearance scoring a quick fire 13 runs from 7 balls when Ryan Harris
bowled one that Broad tried to fend off from hitting his throat and despite
leaning to avoid it hitting his head, he had it hit the bat`s handle and loop
up in the air and collected by Steve Smith which saw England struggling as they
were aiming for a lead of 300.
Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann played a key partnership
in the Innings for the hosts, with the two tail-enders keeping the scoreboard
ticking as both played adventurous knocks for England, with them bailing the
batsmen out once again in this series and not necessarily with the ball either.
Tim Bresnan fell eventually for 45, as the Yorkshireman tried to hit
the ball back down the ground but found Harris hand instead and took a very good
reaction catch to bring his Innings to an end with England on 317 for 9.
Graeme Swann was then dropped by Steve
Smith in the fiels, when Swann tried to smash it and instead the ball went high
up in the air and as it came down let the ball fall to the ground to the
delight of the Durham crowd and to utter disdain by his Captain Michael Clarke
and his fellow team-mates.
Swann carried on regardless and scored a
few more runs till Australia wrapped up the England Innings as they got James
Anderson out, when the Lancastrian feathered a shot behind to Haddin for a duck
and seen Swann finished on 30 not
out.
State of play was easy; Australia had to
chase down 299 for victory, to chalk up a win in this disappointing series for
the touring Aussies.
Australia went about their run chase very
well indeed as they reached 35-0 when Chris Rogers was dropped by Swann in the
slips as it had looked a better option for Cook to take the catch till Swann
dived across him and knocked it to the floor.
The Aussies reached 50-0 as England`s
bowlers were looking down and out while being hit all over the ground by the
batsman as they looked to chase down a reasonable target.
Despite England begging and pleading to the
umpires to give the batsmen out, the umpires were much like the Australian
batsmen had become, which was unmoved.
This difficult run chase was looking
fairly easy for the Australian`s as they reached 101 for no wicket till they finally
made a breakthrough, when Graeme Swann got the wicket of Chris Rogers with a
delivery that had Rogers trying to force one down leg side, but instead edged it
to Trott in the slips and the players were hoped this would kick start the
collapse now with Rogers going for 49.
Swann grabbed his second wicket as he got
rid of Usman Khawaja plumb lbw for 21, when
the batsman missed the full delivery pitch by the Spinner and
England needed their bowlers to give it last push along with Swann who was the
only bowler getting these vital wickets.
David Warner became the third man to go when
he scored a good knock of 71 and this could have been the key
wicket for the hosts. As he looked to have the magic touch for Australia and
with him gone it could spark a England rally towards victory as the tourist`s
were 168 for 3 now.
Stuart Broad thought he had got the wicket
of Steve Smith but Tony Hill gave not out, as he shook his head to the appeal
of the fast bowler.
Broad was highly convinced he had him and Cook
decided to review the decision which looked more like a case of hope and pray
than one of serious credibility. Captain Cook called for a review using up his
side last review, replays shown it was a poor review to use it on and saw
England use up all their review`s via Broad optimistic shout.
Over the last couple of years, When England
have needed wickets at difficult and desperate times the bowlers have normally
come up with the goods and this was be no different.
Stuart Broad produced a great ball to bowl
Michael Clarke out for 21, as
it angled in hitting his off stump to make the game hang in the balance and the
wicket now instilled belief and confidence to the England team as the wicket
was the catalyst of what proved to be an amazing session for Broad and England.
Broad still buoyed by his wicket of Clarke
moment before, had Steve Smith out when Smith attempting a hook shot mistimed
it, with the ball hitting his hip and then onto his stumps as he went for 2 and
had Chester-le-Street come alive and the atmosphere was electric now with
Australia on 175 for 5.
Things got better and better for England, when
Tim Bresnan got his second of the Innings when his ball to Watson swung in and
hit his pad in front of the wickets and looked out. The Umpire agreed and gave
him out, but Watson reviewed it and the replay`s shown it was clipping the
stump and so he went for 2.
Stuart Broad came back into the attack as
he was on fire now as he trapped Brad Haddin lbw, but Haddin used his sides
last review on it. Replay`s again saw Hawkeye show it was hitting the top of
the bails and so Haddin departed for 4 as Australia were imploding now as
they went from 147 /2 to 181 for 7.
England were in full control now as
Australia seemed to have thrown away a great chance of victory with their
inexplicable batting performance, saw them from massive favourites of winning
this test match to now being on the verge of losing this test match.
England had all but now got both hands on
the little Urn and that grip tightened even more when Broad once again weaved
his magic on the Australian`s, when the Nottinghamshire bowler got Ryan Harris
out for 11 with yet
another lbw decision and Australia were in turmoil as they were 199 for 8.
England still managed to show their flaws despite
shredding Australian apart, when they put down two chances off the batting of Nathan
Lyon.
First off was Graeme Swann putting him
down at Second slip off Broad who gave his team mate a death stare over it and then
Broad put one down himself with the very next ball from his own delivery.
Broad completed his 5-fer, as he bowled
full and straight at Lyon with the tail ender unable to deal with the delivery
as he went for 8 and Australia were 211 for 9 with
one wicket remaining now.
The end was nigh now for the Australian`s,
with only bad light that could now spoil this match. But those thoughts
disappeared quickly when the sun stretched out across the pitch and there was
no danger of going off now as everything was set up for England to win the
series, they took up the option of the extra half hour available to see if they
could get a result in that time.
Matt Prior then summed up his series in
one move, when a certain run out chance fell to the wicket keeper who would normally
would take the catch and whip the bails off. However this series hasn`t been
great for him and he made a complete and utter mess of a run-out when Bird was
stranded miles out of his crease as he was almost still in another county, by
the time Prior proceeded to fumbled the ball from a good throw by Bairstow and
he just couldn`t collect the ball and a chance went begging.
Then at 19:40pm on the clock, Peter Siddle
who had been playing a very entertaining knock for Australia, got a ball from
Broad that saw the batsman chip it up in the air for the forgotten man in these
past two test matches for England in James Anderson and the Lancashire man
caught it and launched it back up high in the air to start the celebration, with
England winning an unlikely test match and take an unbelievable 3-0 series lead
heading into the final test match in London at the Brit Oval for a chance of a
4-0 series win possibly.
Man of the Match was surprise, surprise
fast bowler Stuart Broad who took 11 wickets for 121 and posted the best
figures for an England bowler since Phil Tuffnell when the spinner took 11
wickets for 93 back in the 1997 Ashes series.
No comments:
Post a Comment