Mitchell Starc shone with both bat and ball and put Australia in an advantageous position at the end of Day 3. Mitchell Starc dazzled at the Gabba and showed his class in both facets of the game. First with the bat he scored 77 runs that pushed Australia’s score to 511 and a lead of 177 runs. Then under lights with ball in hand, he picked up 2 wickets as England were left reeling at the end of the day with all to do on Day 4.
Michael Neser & Alex Carey fall but Mitchell Starc settles in as Australia make steady progress in morning session.Â
Alex Carey and Michael Neser started the proceedings for Australia while Ben Stokes the captain had ball in hand for England. Stokes kept things under check. Brydon Carse had ball in hand from the other end and bowled a decent over. Carey reached his 12th fifty in Test cricket off 52 balls. Stokes removed Neser for 16 off 41 balls with a boundary to his name as he managed to get an edge through to the keeper. Mitchell Starc came out to bat next.
Carse continued as Carey hit a boundary through the slip cordon. The lead went past 50 runs. Stokes bowled another probing over. Starc hit Carse for a boundary through covers as the bowler overstepped as well. Starc hit another boundary through covers as the 400 came up for Australia in 78.2 overs. Stokes bowled another good over. The second new ball was taken with Gus Atkinson coming into the attack. He bowled a decent over.
Jofra Archer came back into the attack as Starc tickled it away for a boundary to fine leg fence. Atkinson then removed Carey for 63 off 69 balls with 6 fours to his name as the edge was taken by the keeper. Scott Boland came out to bat next. Archer bowled a good over. Atkinson bowled another probing over. Archer too kept it tight. Atkinson bowled another good over as Australia reached 419/8 in 87 overs when Drinks came onto the field.
Archer continued after the break as Starc punched it past deep third man for a boundary. Atkinson bowled a maiden. Archer bowled a maiden as well. Brydon Carse came back into the attack. He too bowled a tight over. Stokes came back into the attack and bowled tightly. Carse bowled another maiden. Stokes bowled another probing over. Starc broke the shackles as Starc flayed it over extra cover for a boundary. Starc hit it through mid-on for a boundary. The lead crossed 100 runs.
Boland managed to get a boundary away through backward point and gully. Starc hit another boundary through extra cover and mid-off. Carse bowled a maiden. Will Jacks came into the attack and bowled a good over. Carse bowled the last over before Tea as Starc picked up a triple to bring up the 450 for Australia. Australia were 450/8 in 99 overs with Starc on 46* off 95 balls while Boland was on 7* off 27 balls as we paused for the Tea Break.
Mitchell Starc’s fiery 77 takes Australia to 511; England openers get off to a fast solid start in second session.Â
Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland came out to resume proceedings for Australia while Will Jacks had ball in hand for England. Starc got to his 12th Test fifty with a boundary via the slog sweep through midwicket region. Gus Atkinson took the ball from the other end. Starc hit a boundary off Atkinson past the bowler as he overstepped as well. Jacks continued and bowled a maiden. Boland hit a boundary off Atkinson by getting an inside edge past the stumps to the fine leg fence.
Jacks continued as the 50-run stand came up between the two players. Boland hit Jacks for a boundary handsomely through the covers. Starc took the attack to Atkinson by hitting him for back-to-back boundaries through covers and again through covers. Jacks bowled another maiden. Atkinson kept things tight. Jacks bowled another good over. Starc hit Atkinson for a boundary via a lofted drive over the bowler’s head. Starc lifts the ball over mid-on for a boundary. Jacks bowled another tight over.
Carse finally broke through removing Starc for 77 off 141 balls with 13 fours to his name as Stokes took the catch really well. Brendan Doggett came out to bat next. He got off the mark soon. Jacks bowled another tight over. Carse bowled another tight over. Australia were 496/9 when Drinks was called onto the field. Jacks continued as Doggett cut the ball through cover point for a boundary as the 500 came up for Australia in 113.5 overs. Carse bowled a quiet over.
Jacks bowled a decent over. Carse bowled another decent over. Jacks got the last wicket to fall as he removed Doggett for 13 off 21 balls with one four to his name as the outside edge was taken by Harry Brook who made no mistake as Australia were bowled out for 511 in 117.3 overs with Boland remaining unbeaten on 21 off 72 balls with 3 fours to his name. 22 extras given by England.
Brydon Carse picked up 4/152 in 29 overs while captain Ben Stokes finished with 3/113 in 24 overs. Gus Atkinson finished with 1/114 in 28 overs while Jofra Archer finished with 1/87 in 25 overs. Will Jacks chipped in with 1/34 in 11.3 overs. The lead for Australia was 177 runs.
England came out to bat with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett opening and Mitchell Starc had ball in hand for Australia. Duckett got off the mark with a triple. Michael Neser took the new ball from the other end. Crawley clipped the ball off the pads through square leg region for a boundary. Starc continued as Duckett got a triple again. Crawley whipped the ball through square leg for a boundary. Neser dropped Duckett of his own bowling a tough chance went down.
Neser gifted 4 byes to the batting side. Duckett hit the ball through midwicket for a boundary. Crawley drove down the ground for a boundary. Crawley again drove Starc through covers for a boundary. Neser bowled the last over before Dinner as Crawley got a triple and so did Duckett as well. England were 45/0 in 6 overs with Crawley on 26* off 23 balls while Duckett was unbeaten on 13* off 13 balls as players went off the field for the Dinner Break.
All-Round Australia Sinks England in night session.Â
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett came out to resume proceedings for England while Brendan Doggett started the proceedings for Australia. Doggett bowled a tight first over. Scott Boland came into the attack for the first time this innings. Boland got the breakthrough for Australia as he removed Duckett for 15 off 18 balls as he knocked him over. Ollie Pope came out to bat next. He got off the mark soon. Doggett bowled a maiden. Boland bowled another probing over.
Mitchell Starc came back for another spell. He bowled another good over. Boland continued as Pope clipped it between leg slip and deep fine leg for a boundary. Crawley got into the act as he drove Boland down the ground past mid-on for a boundary. Starc continued as Pope got a triple while Crawley slashed away past gully for a boundary. Boland continued as Pope nailed the drive between bowler and mid-off for a boundary. Starc bowled another good over. Boland too bowled a probing over.
Brendan Doggett came back for another spell. Pope drove over covers for a boundary. Pope hit another boundary over the slips for a boundary. Pope managed to get a triple off Doggett. Neser came back into the attack and removed Pope for 26 off 32 balls with 4 fours to his name as he drove him back to the bowler. Joe Root came out to bat and he got off the mark with a brace. Doggett bowled another quiet over. Neser bowled another tight over. Doggett bowled a maiden.
Neser struck again as he removed Crawley for 44 off 59 balls with 6 fours to his name as he too drove it back to the bowler. Drinks was taken at this stage after which Harry Brook came out to bat next. Brook got off the mark with a boundary by flicking it past the keeper for a boundary as the 100 came up for England in 21.4 overs. Doggett continued as Root hopped back and steered it past diving gully for a boundary. Neser bowled another good over.
Mitchell Starc came back into the attack and bowled a decent over. Scott Boland came back as well as Harry Brook played the late cut between deep backward point and gully for a boundary. Australia burnt a review against Brook for LBW as the onfield call stayed. Starc continued and removed the big fish Joe Root for 15 off 36 balls with one four to his name on a successful usage of DRS as he tried to defend and got the outside edge to the keeper. Captain Ben Stokes came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Boland bowled a maiden over. Starc too kept things tight. Boland thought he had removed Brook for caught behind but there was no edge as Brook used the DRS to overturn the onfield call. Boland got rid of Brook next ball for 15 off 21 balls with 2 fours to his name thanks to good usage of DRS. The edge was found on this occasion. Jamie Smith came out to bat next. Starc bowled a maiden.
Boland continued as Smith drove the ball back past the bowler for a boundary. Starc continued and got rid of Smith for 4 off 11 balls with a boundary to his name. He got the outside edge and burnt the review as well. Will Jacks came out to bat next. He got off the mark with a boundary by driving through covers for a boundary. Australia burnt the review against Jacks for caught behind as there was no edge there.
Boland continued and bowled a decent over. Starc came to bowl the final over of the day and bowled a maiden. England have been reduced to 134/6 in 35 overs with Jacks on 4* off 9 balls with a boundary to his name while Stokes is unbeaten on 4* off 24 balls. 7 extras given by the fielding side.
Mitchell Starc picked up 2/48 in 12 overs. Michael Neser finished with 2/27 in 7 overs. Scott Boland finished with 2/33 in 10 overs. Brendan Doggett bowled 6 overs for 19 runs. England trail by 43 runs with 4 second innings wickets in hand.
What Lies Ahead.Â
Australia are on top at the end of Day 3 as they put runs on the board and now have England struggling at 134/6. The aim for England will be to erase the deficit and then some target for Australia. The Aussies will want to wrap things up quickly and make it 2-0 after 2 matches.
Let’s see how Day 4 shapes up for all of us on Sunday.
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