Ashes in a nutshell: Lightning strikes twice for England as openers fall after Australia pile on the runs
Lightning struck for the umpteenth time in recent memory as England were made to toil in the field by Australia; the tourists then lost their openers early on before electrical storms saw the final session of day two in Adelaide cut short
Friday 17 December 2021 13:57, UK
It was deja vu all over again for England in Adelaide as Australia piled on the runs and then took early wickets before electrical storms stopped play. This is day two of the second Ashes Test in a nutshell...
REPORT
England tumbled to 17-2 from 8.4 overs under the lights as they faltered in reply to Australia's mammoth 473-9 declared on day two of the day-night Test in Adelaide, writes David Ruse.
Rory Burns (4) and Haseeb Hameed (6) fell inside seven overs as Mitchell Starc and debutant Michael Neser set to work with the pink ball, before an electrical storm led to an early stumps with England 456 runs in arrears.
Joe Root's side seemingly face a huge task to avoid defeat in this Test and slipping 2-0 down in the five-match series - a result which would leave them needing to win the final three games of the series to regain the urn.
TALKING POINT
Less than seven overs in and England were two down with their captain and premier batter making his way to the middle. That's right folks, we're talking about England's openers again.
First off, the mitigations, the tourists had been out in the field for five and a half sessions, some 150.4 draining overs, before Australia made their declaration. Coming straight out to bat against a brand new pink ball under lights, in front of baying home crowd, was always going to be extremely tough and there might have been a little more sympathy for Burns and Hameed had England not consistently found themselves two down early over the past - what? Five years? Six? Seven? More?
Of course, neither of them have been doing that job for all of that time but England's struggle to find a reliable opening pair in Test cricket has become something of a running joke, only those supporting the team stopped laughing a long time ago. They say tragedy plus time equals comedy. Well, there were certainly plenty of Australians chuckling in the crowd.
Only Root has scored more Test runs for England this year than Burns, who enjoyed a good series against New Zealand at the start of the English summer. However, that stat says more about the general lack of runs in the team outside of the skipper with Burns more than 1,000 runs shy of Root's total.
The left-hander's form is a long way from what he showed against the Kiwis and his unorthodox technique has been picked apart by Starc so far in this series, to the extent that Burns has let Hameed face the first ball in the last two innings. Prior to the second dig in Brisbane, Burns had only batted at No 2 four times in his first-class career. Should he fail again in the second innings, it is hard to see how he keeps his place for the Boxing Day Test.
Hameed's situation is a little different. While Burns has looked every inch the out-of-nick batter, the Bolton-born right-hander has shaped up well in all three innings so far in Australia. Unfortunately, that has not translated to significant runs with a top score of 27.
Jhye Richardson caused him some issues in his first over but Hameed got through it and had settled in again, only to gift Australia his wicket with a careless flick to leg. It is just the kind of lapse that England cannot afford in a series where they already find themselves under immense pressure.
Hameed has shown just enough to give England hope that he can become the solid and reliable presence they crave at the top of the order but like so many in the current batting line-up, they need him to turn promise into big scores - and quickly.
Smith came out to bat at No 4 for Australia with his side 176-2 and the pink Kookaburra ball some 64 overs old. Such a thing remains the stuff of fantasy for Root right now...
MOMENT OF THE DAY
Marnus Labuschagne reached his sixth Test century early in the day, making the most of the chances given to him by England on day one, but the biggest Australian celebrations came late in the day as debutant Neser struck with his second ball in Test cricket.
Starc had already continued his tormenting of Rory Burns when Neser dismissed the other England opener, Hameed, in the seventh over. It might not have been exactly as Neser dreamed it, Hameed chipping the ball to mid-on, but nor did he care.
The 31-year-old was mobbed by his team-mates, who seemed to delight in his success as much, if not more, than the bowler himself. Neser has been the perennial nearly man for the Aussies, so often included in Test squads but never quite able to force himself into the XI.
Even after Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the Adelaide Test, he was set to miss out again, with Richardson given the nod. However, Pat Cummins' misfortune finally gave him his chance and a whirlwind 48 hours - in which he also thumped a quickfire 35 from 24 balls with the bat - was rounded off with a first Test wicket.
WHAT THEY SAID
England all-rounder Ben Stokes, speaking to BT Sport: "It looked a pretty easy wicket to bat on once you got yourself in, so hopefully our batters can go on and do that.
"We've been in that position before as a batting team, where wickets and fielders are sort of irrelevant and it's all about getting as many runs as you can.
"They deserved the right to do that, they wore us down and put overs into our legs, then were obviously able to go and play like that and put a pretty commanding score on the board."
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Matt Prior, speaking to BT Sport: "England are well behind in the game. Now we know that, the only way to save it and to get back into it is to bat a long time."
Sir Alastair Cook, speaking to BT Sport: "It's in Rory Burns' hands still. He has one more opportunity to put what we're all talking about to bed.
"If he scores a century in the second innings, then he'll get to play more some games because he's earned the right to do it."
Glenn McGrath, speaking to BT Sport: "They [England] probably got away without about ten overs of the new ball and, under the lights, it is pretty tough. England had a tough day in the field and then after going out and lose a couple of wickets early, I think they will be quite happy they didn't have to play those last overs.
"They've got to regroup now, come out tomorrow and start all over again."
