The Ashes 2023: Australia kept their dominance in 3rd Test (Day-2) Match Report (England vs Australia)

Day-2 of England vs Australia third test match of the Ashes 2023 saw the Aussies dominating over the hosts once again by wrapping them up at a score of 237 on the scoreboard. England’s batting line up could not stand the bowling attack of the Aussies which wrecked havoc upon their batters. Where on one side, the Australian skipper played a pivotal role in routing the English side by claiming 6/91, Ben Stokes remained the only successful batter from England’s side who scored a brilliant 80 of 108 balls.

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-2): England innings wrapped up quickly

For England, the day started off with Root & Bairstow at the crease with a score of 68/3 on the board. But soon as the innings began, England got its first shocker as they lost their first wicket on the very second ball of the day, when Root tried to push a ball by Cummins, got an edged & landed directly in the hands of Warner, placed at first slip. Soon after Root’s departure, England lost Bairstow at a score of 87 when he got edged on a wider delivery by Starc & leading to his catch at the second slip by Smith.

The Australian side never gave a chance to England to get in control as they kept striking wickets at regular intervals. Followed by Bairstow, the next in the row was Moeen Ali, who played a pull shot on a short ball by Cummins leading to his catch at the fine leg by Smith. England was clearly in big trouble as they lost their crucial wickets at a score of 131 with Stokes being the only hope to take his team out of the crisis.

Stokes lived upto this expectation as he single handedly dealt with Australian attack & hit six boundaries and 5 sixes to reach his individual score of 80 off 108 balls. The ace batter became the last one to lose his wicket at a total of 237. Before that, tail-enders including Woakes, Wood, Broad & Robinson supported Stokes in continuing his game and rescuing England from trouble.

Talking about the Aussies’ bowling front, their attacking strategy with special focus on short balls, worked pretty well against England top & middle order batters. Pat Cummins led the assault with 6/91 along with Starc’s backing up with 2/59.

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-2): How Australia started off 2nd innings

By restricting England to 237 runs, Australia led by 26 runs. But they too had a stumbling start in their second innings as Australia lost its first four high priced wickets at a score of mere 90 runs. Starting with Warner, who once again disappointed the Aussies with his dismissal in the very third over only by Stuart Broad who grabbed his wicket for the 17th time. On 11/1, Usman Khawaja was joined by Labuschagne & both built a 50-run partnership to take the Aussies to 68 runs before Labuschagne got a top edge on a sweep shot towards deep midwicket where Brook dived to take a spectacular catch on a ball by Moeen Ali.

Steve Smith came the next batter on the crease but within a game of two overs, gave away his crucial wicket too early as if he was in a hurry to reach the pavilion. Smith played a loose shot towards midwicket where he was caught by Duckett on a delivery by Ali leading to his 200th wicket in test cricket. Next came Travis Head to join Khawaja on the field. Both could add just 18 runs to the total of 90 when Khawaja fell prey to Woekes by getting an outside edge on a full length delivery leading to him getting caught behind.

It seemed as if English bowlers have well understood Khawaja’s weak point and have used it to their advantage, thereby not letting him reach his fifty. Following to this, Marsh joined as the new batter alongwith Head. Both took the total to 116 towards the end of the day.

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-2): At stumps

Day-2 of the third test remained full of highs & lows for both sides. At stumps, the Aussies ended their day at 116/4 with Head &  Mitchell Marsh on the crease. It will be interesting to see if both the batters could build a strong partnership especially Marsh who hit a comeback century in the previous innings. 

BRIEF SCORE: Day-2 (3rd Test), The Ashes 2023
Australia: 263/10 (Marsh 118, Head 39, Wood 5/34, Woakes 3/73)
England: 237/10 (Stokes 80, Crawley 33, Cummins 6/91, Starc 2/59)
Australia: 116/4 (Khawaja 43, Labuschagne 33, Ali 2/34, Woakes 1/28)

Australia lead by 142 runs at stumps

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-2): Match Details

• Venue: Headingley Stadium, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
• Dates: 6 Jul – 10 Jul
• Toss: Won by England, Chose to Bowl first
• Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) & Nitin Menon (IND)
• TV umpire: Joel Wilson (WI)
• Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SL)
• Watch Live on: