The Ashes 2023: 4th Test (Day-2) Match Report (England vs Australia)

Day-2 of England vs Australia’s fourth test of the Ashes 2023 witnessed a great comeback from England wherein they posted a massive 384/4 on the scoreboard in response to Australia’s 317/10 in the first innings. This included Zak Crawley’s superb 189 off 182 balls and half-centuries from Joe Root (84) & Moeen Ali (54) which gave the hosts a lead of 67 runs at stumps.

The Ashes 2023, 4th Test (Day-2): Australia’s innings wrapped up quickly

The second day of the Aussies commenced with Mitchell Starc & Pat Cummins on the crease. The visitors got their first blow when the skipper played an ill-timed shot on a ball by Anderson towards cover point and got caught by Stokes. As the last batter, Hazlewood joined Starc on the field, the Aussies were 299/9. Both added a 18 runs further to the total before Hazlewood got a thick edge and was caught by Duckett at the third slip, gifting his wicket to Woakes to complete his five-wicket haul. So, the Australian innings got over in a span of just 8 overs on day-2 with Starc remaining unbeaten at 32.

The Ashes 2023, 4th Test (Day-2): England bounced back

England’s first innings started off with a setback when in the very 3rd over, Duckett got dismissed by Starc when played a defensive push which got him an edge leading straight away to Carey and Australia got their first wicket. On the other end, Crawley’s aggressive batting provided England some hope to get their innings back on track. Along with Moeen Ali, he built a strong 121-run partnership which put England in a dominant position. Both of them completed their much needed half-centuries. But at a score of 130 runs, Ali got dismissed by Starc when he played a firm shot towards square where Khawaja took a diving catch.

As the new batsman, Joe Root joined Crawley, he kept his show continued with his aggressive batting and completed his fourth test century in just 93 balls. Both the batters built a strong 200-run partnership wherein Root also completed his half-century and took England to a dominant position. Meanwhile, Crawley took his superb innings to a new level when he reached 150-run mark. At a score of 336 runs, England got a big blow when Green put a brake on Crawley’s strong going campaign when he got an inside edge leading the ball to the wickets. Before departure, Crawley smashed marvellous 189 runs, though missed out his double-ton, which included 21 boundaries and 3 sixes.

Having moved just 15 runs ahead, England suffered another setback when Root got clean bowled on a full length low delivery by Hazlewood at a score of 351. Root played a magnificent 84-run innings which included 8 boundaries and one six. Though, Australia bowlers provided two back to back break throughs, but it’s clear that they have somehow failed to check English batsmen from scoring big runs and putting a big total on the score board.

The Ashes 2023, 4th Test (Day-2): At Stumps

At stumps, England reached 384/4 in 72 overs with two new batters on the crease, that is, Harry Brook (14) & Ben Stokes (24) who together added 33 runs further to the total.

BRIEF SCORE: Day-2 (4th Test), The Ashes 2023
Australia: 317/10 (Marsh 51, Labuschagne 51, Head 48, Woakes 5/62, Broad 2/68)
England: 384/4 (Crawley 189, Root 84, Ali 54, Starc 2/74, Green 1/40)

England Lead by 67 runs

The Ashes 2023, 4th Test (Day-2): Match Details

• Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
• Dates: 19 Jul – 23 Jul
• Toss: Won by England, Chose to Bowl first
• Umpires: Joel Wilson (WI) & Nitin Menon (IND)
• TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SL)
• Reserve umpire: Martin Saggers (ENG)
• Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SL)
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