Adelaide: Australia captain Steve Smith and wicket-keeper Alex Carey reached half-centuries before England pacer James Anderson removed both to leave Australia at 390/7 in 140.4 overs at tea on day two of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval. Despite losing the duo, Australia are inching closer to the 400-mark in the first innings.
Commencing from 302/5 at dinner break, Smith and Carey continued to hold fort. Carey, the hometown boy, was watchful at the start but looked for scoring opportunities whenever it came while Smith was on cruise mode.
The 91-run stand between Smith and Carey was broken by James Anderson, whose low nip-backer rapped Smith plumb in front of the pads. Smith’s dismissal on 93 meant that he missed out on his 28th Test century,16th as skipper and 12th in the Ashes.
In his next over, Anderson returned to fox Carey, who recorded his maiden Test half-century, with an off-cutter, which the left-hander spooned to Haseeb Hameed at short cover on the stroke of tea.
Earlier, England had picked three wickets in the first session. Marnus Labuschagne, who reached his sixth Test century in 287 balls, was caught behind by keeper Jos Buttler on 102 off Ollie Robinson’s first delivery of the day. But replays showed that Robinson’s foot was on the line with nothing behind, giving Labuschagne another life.
Eventually, Robinson had the last laugh in his next over, with a nip-backer that Labuschagne shouldered arms to and hitting him on the knee roll of back pad. The right-handed batter reviewed but couldn’t change the decision.
Travis Head lofted over Joe Root’s head but the England captain got his wicket on the next ball, foxing the left-hander in yorking himself. Cameron Green didn’t last long as Stokes got one to move past the outer edge and hit the top of off-stump.
Brief Scores: Australia 390/7 in 140.4 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 103, David Warner 95, Steve Smith 93; James Anderson 2/51) vs England.