On the second day of England vs Australia, 1st Test Match of The Ashes 2023, the Australian side started off from where it left the previous day, that is, 14/0. The second day remained full of ups & downs for the Aussies as they lost their initial two wickets at a score of mere 29. Soon after, the Aussies lost their third wicket at a score of 67 in the form of Steve Smith who could contribute just 16 runs, which thereby created a situation of trouble for the team. Meanwhile on the other end, Usman Khawaja acted as an anchor by playing a stupendous centurion knock.
The Aussies had a sigh of relief when Tim Head, the player of the match in WTC final, played a responsible innings of 50 runs, alongwith Usman Khawaja, who by then had already smashed his 22nd half-century in test cricket. At a score of 148/4, the Australian campaign got dented when they lost Head’s wicket by the birthday boy Moeen Ali, who again struck another wicket at 220/5 on his magical off-spin which clean bowled the right-handed batter, Cameroon Green.
At this point, the Australian side was again looking for a big partnership as they still trailed by 173 runs with only 5 wickets left. From hereon, the new batsman, Alex Carey alongwith Khawaja built a huge partnership of 91 runs, which included Khawaja’s 15th test century, making his phenomenal comeback, and a fifty from Carey. Both the batsmen brought Australia back to track, though at a slower pace.
For the English side, the day became brighter with the ace seamer, Stuart Broad, scalping two back to back wickets which included both the Australian openers, David Warner & Marnus Labuschagne. It is interesting to note that it was the 15th time when the star Australian batter, David Warner, was sent back to pavilion by Stuart Broad. The English bowling attack definitely put the Aussies on the backfoot initially but could not maintain their dominance further as they failed to break big partnerships created by the Aussies for the 4th, 5th & 6th wickets. At the end of the day’s session, both Broad & Ali claimed two wickets each.
For Usman Khawaja, who remained unbeaten on Day -2 at a score of 126, celebrated his maiden test century against England. This was an emotional moment for the left-handed batter remembered the time when he was trolled for not scoring runs in England vs Australia matches.
Coming to the end of the second day of England vs Australia, the Aussies recovered from a big trouble by putting 311/5 on score board with the help of responsible innings from both Khawaja & Carey.