LIVE | Australia v England: 2nd Ashes Test
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England captain Ben Stokes.
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25m ago
Root edges closer to elusive ton as England reach 196-4
Joe Root edged closer to his maiden Test century in Australia as England reached 196-4 at dinner on the first day of the day-night second Ashes Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday.
After captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat, the visitors made it to the second break with Root not-out 68 and Stokes alongside him on 14.
As Root closed in on a long-awaited milestone, England's tormentor-in-chief Mitchell Starc celebrated one of his own.
Starc took three scalps in the first two sessions with the pink ball to move to 415 wickets in Test cricket, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram as the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history.
Starc had earlier reduced a shell-shocked England to 5-2 in the third over, but a 117-run partnership between Root and Zak Crawley (76) stabilised the visitors.
Root has scored 890 runs in 14 Tests in Australia at an average of 35.68, but he has never reached triple figures.
He looked calm and composed in the first two sessions and is now just 32 runs shy of the elusive mark.
Both teams wore black armbands in memory of former England batsman Robin Smith, who died unexpectedly this week.
Australia, who won the opening Test inside two days in Perth, went into this match without regular skipper Pat Cummins.
He had been rumoured to be making an early return from a back injury, but instead the hosts sprung a major surprise by leaving out off-spinner Nathan Lyon for seamer Michael Neser.
It was the first time in almost 14 years that Australia played a Test at home without a frontline spinner.
Early on it seemed England's batsmen had learned nothing from their dismissals in Perth as Starc, swinging the new pink ball, struck twice in his first two overs.
Ben Duckett was first to go on the last ball of Starc's first over, nicking a full ball to Marnus Labuschagne at first slip for a golden duck.
England were rocked in Starc's next over, Ollie Pope chopping on a wide delivery to leave England rocking.
But Crawley and Root survived a torrid examination from the Australian attack and began to take advantage as the wicket flattened.
The pair continued in a positive vein after tea, taking the score to 122 before Crawley got an underedge to Neser and was caught by wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
Harry Brook (31) joined Root at the crease and continued to push the scoring rate along against an Australian attack that looked short of ideas, resorting to short balls down the leg side.
Root brought up his half-century off 83 balls, shortly after England had reached 150.
Australia captain Steve Smith brought Starc back into the attack with immediate dividends as he drew a thick edge from Brook, with Smith taking the catch at second slip to leave England 176-4.
Stokes and Root navigated a tricky period as the sun set and the floodlights began to take effect.
- AFP
3h ago
Crawley, Root guide England recovery after Starc's double strike
Zak Crawley and Joe Root led an England recovery to 98-2 at the first tea break of the day-night second Ashes Test against Australia in Brisbane on Thursday after Mitchell Starc took two early wickets.
After England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat, Crawley was not out 61 with Root alongside him on 32, after Starc had reduced England to 5-2 in the third over.
Crawley, who was under pressure after a pair of ducks in Perth grew in confidence as the wicket flattened out and the shine came off the pink ball.
He used his height to get forward to the Australian pace bowlers, bringing up his 50 off 68 balls, including six fours.
Root was dropped early off a difficult chance to a diving Steve Smith in the slips, but thereafter looked equally untroubled as he bids for his first Test century in Australia.
Both teams wore black armbands in memory of former England batsman Robin Smith, who died unexpectedly on 1 December.
A minute's silence was also held for Smith, who had been living in Perth and who had visited the England team ahead of the first Test there two weeks ago.
Australia went into Test without regular skipper Pat Cummins, who had been rumoured to be making an early return from a back injury but sprung a major surprise by leaving out off-spinner Nathan Lyon for seamer Michael Neser.
It was the first time in almost 14 years that Australia played a Test at home without a frontline spinner.
Early on, it seemed England's batsmen had learned nothing from their first Test dismissals in Perth as Starc, swinging the new pink ball, struck twice in his first two overs.
Ben Duckett was first to go on the last ball of Starc's first over, nicking a full ball to Marnus Labuschagne at first slip for a golden duck.
England were rocked in Starc's next over, Ollie Pope chopping on a wide delivery to leave England rocking at 5-2.
But Crawley and Root survived a torrid examination from the Australian attack and began to take advantage as the wicket flattened.
- AFP
5h ago
England win toss, bat in second Test as Australia bring in Neser
England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat in the day-night second Ashes Test as Australia sprang a surprise at the Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday.
The hosts go into the match 1-0 up in the five-Test series after thrashing England inside two days in the opener in Perth.
Australia's regular captain, fast bowler Pat Cummins, was not selected despite rumours he had recovered from a back injury.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon was surprisingly left out of the team in favour of Queensland seamer Michael Neser.
In the only other change from Perth, wicketkeeper Josh Inglis was selected as a specialist batsman.
He will bat in the middle order, with Travis Head moving to opener to replace the injured Usman Khawaja.
Australia captain Steve Smith said Cummins was close to selection.
"We thought it might have been a little bit risky for this game but he's tracking well for the next one," Smith said.
England made one change from the first Test, two-Test off-spinner Will Jacks coming in for injured pace bower Mark Wood.
Teams:
Australia
Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (captain), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett
England
Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
Umpires: Adrian Holdstock (RSA), Sharfuddoula (BAN)
TV Umpire: Nitin Menon (IND)
- AFP
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