Lyon’s 4 Puts Australia In Control
4th Ashes Test, Day One
England v Australia
9th August 2013
Venue: Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
England – Alastair Cook (captain), Joe Root, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson
Australia - David Warner, Chris Rogers, Usman Khawaja, Michael Clarke (captain), Steven Smith, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird
There were injury concerns surrounding Kevin Pietersen but with all the time in the world between the Lord’s test and this third test in Manchester, Pietersen was deemed fit as England retained the same XI that won in convincing fashion at Lord’s. Australia meanwhile continued playing selection lottery, as Phil Hughes and Ashton Agar both found themselves out of the side (along with James Pattinson who was injured and promptly sent home during the Lord’s test), paving the way for David Warner (returning from a short-but-successful Australia A stint in Africa), Mitchell Starc, and Nathan Lyon to slot back into the side. Warner was to bat at #6 as Shane Watson found himself opening in this test match.
England won the toss and elected to bat
English First Innings
Alastair Cook driving one away during his gritty innings of 51. Pic courtesy of Cricinfo
While it might’ve seemed like a good idea for England to bat first (at least according to Alastair Cook), their openers still needed to ride out the opening salvo from Australia’s bowlers, and that is what Cook and Joe Root did. Some good tight bowling from Ryan Harris and Jackson Bird kept the English to 31 runs in the opening hour and although their strike bowlers had kept the scoring down, it was Shane Watson (he who had been so economical throughout the series to date) who would actually draw first blood as he got rid of Root caught behind for 16 after Australia reviewed the original not out decision. Jonathan Trott came out looking like he had a little more intent on his mind than his captain as the pair made their way to lunch with England on a mere 1/57 thanks to the tight bowling efforts of all of Australia’s pacemen.
Things changed in the second session however. The Aussie bowlers were losing their line just a tad as England started going on the offensive. Trott in particular picked up the pace as he screamed past his captain. After seeing only 3 boundaries in the opening session, Cook and Trott added another 8 fours between them in the following hour as the pair added 73 for the second wicket. But, just as Trott looked set for a big score, almost entirely against the run of play he fell to Nathan Lyon, caught by a diving Usman Khawaja at short leg on 49. Kevin Pietersen once again showed early intent when he charged at Lyon first ball trying to whack him over midwicket, but the miscue landed safely for two instead. Pietersen managed a couple boundaries off Lyon in his next over which prompted Michael Clarke to give Lyon a bit of a breather. Clarke brought Lyon back on 7 overs later, and immediately Lyon made the massive breakthrough they were looking for. Inexplicably, Pietersen seemed to go into his shell in Lyon’s return over, and tried to defend one too many deliveries, getting a big outside edge straight through to the keeper for 26. Cook at the other end had been sticking it out in a fashion that only he knows and plays so well, bringing up a gritty fifty but once again he didn’t add much more to said milestone as he fell lbw to Bird without offering a shot for 51, and England were in real trouble. At tea, England were 4/155, with Australia having taken the upper hand.
Nathan Lyon was the pick of the Aussie bowlers, taking 4 English wickets. Pic courtesy of Cricinfo
Lyon was given the first over after tea and the unthinkable happened – Ian Bell threw his wicket away and had a failure against his name for the first time in this test series. Bell decided to charge at Lyon’s fourth delivery trying to whack it over the rope at long-off but instead looped it straight to mid off for 6. Jonny Bairstow was joined by Matt Prior at the crease as England really needed to dig in to get themselves out of the hole they’d dug themselves, and Bairstow and Prior looked to do so, adding 34 for the 6th wicket. However, with the new ball just around the corner, both men fell in quick time. Prior was the first to go, falling to another correct DRS review from Michael Clarke as an lbw appeal from Peter Siddle on Prior was initially turned down only for the replay to show it hitting leg stump, sending Prior packing on 17, continuing his rather ordinary series form. Bairstow was at the crease for almost 2 hours for his 14 before he fell missing a sweep shot on Lyon and disappearing lbw (but not before using up one of England’s reviews) as all of England’s specialist batsmen were back in the pavilion at 7/193. Australia didn’t even end up taking the new ball as soon as it was available as Harris had a go with the old ball with immediate impact, with Stuart Broad also throwing his wicket away having a wild slash at one that he could only edge straight to point. Graeme Swann added a few freebie boundaries to his name when the new ball was finally taken but he too fell to Harris trying to hook a short ball away only to find Lyon in the deep. While Tim Bresnan and James Anderson managed 5 fours between them in the final 3 overs, the day most definitely belonged to Australia as England were reeling at 9/238, with Lyon leading the way for Australia with 4 wickets to his name.
End Of Day One – England 9/238 (Cook 51, Trott 49, Lyon 4/42, Harris 2/70, Watson 1/21)
This is BJ The Left Sporting Nut signing off, reminding you enjoy the art of physical and mental competition!
Check Out The Fifth And Final Day Of The Third Test – CLICK HERE…
Check Out The Second Day Of This Ashes Test – CLICK HERE…
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