Ashes 2023, 5th Test, Day 2: Smith’s 71 takes Aus to 295, lead by 12 runs at the stumps

It was yet another fantastic day of Test Cricket as both teams exhibited impressive performances. The English bowlers displayed dominance, but the Australian batters showed resilience. The day started with Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne batting for Australia on Day 2.

England’s bowlers maintained a consistent line and length, relentlessly challenging Labuschagne. However, he managed to skillfully leave the balls. Nevertheless, the English bowlers persisted with their plans, and eventually, Mark Wood’s pace and swing led to Labuschagne edging the ball to be caught brilliantly by Joe Root at slips. Labuschagne was dismissed after scoring just 9 runs.

Later, Usman Khawaja was joined by Steve Smith in the middle, but their partnership was broken by Stuart Broad, who dismissed Khawaja when he had scored 47 runs. Australia faced a middle-order collapse, and despite Smith’s crucial knock, wickets kept falling from the other end.

At 185/7, skipper Pat Cummins stepped up and partnered with Steve Smith, and they put together a valuable 54-run stand. Chris Woakes dismissed Smith to end the partnership. Smith’s impressive innings of 71 runs off 123 balls was a significant contribution. Australia kept fighting, and Cummins found support from Todd Murphy, forging a vital partnership of 49 runs.

These runs were crucial for Australia, as they managed to take the lead. Cummins scored 36 runs, while Murphy contributed 34 runs in just 39 deliveries, including two boundaries and three sixes. Cummins was the last man to be dismissed, caught on the boundary with a remarkable catch by Ben Stokes. Australia’s first innings concluded at 295 runs, securing a lead of 12 runs.

The England bowlers performed well, with Chris Woakes taking three wickets, while Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, and Joe Root claimed two dismissals each. Looking ahead to Day 3, England aims to set a substantial target for Australia, while Australia is determined to dismiss the English batters quickly.

Interesting thing of the day was, Stuart Broad tried a bail flip for luck change just before the Wicket of Labuschagne and explained the incident in press conference as , “I’ve heard it’s an Aussie change of luck thing. I’ve seen Nathan Lyon do it. We had a few play and misses in the morning session and we needed to make a breakthrough and I thought: ‘I’ll have a little change of the bails.’