Ashes 2021-22| Warner and Labuschagne’s partnership set up the win, says Steve Smith
Steve Smith has praised Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner saying the partnership between these two batsmen in the first innings allowed Australia to control the fixture. Smith also lauded Mitchell Starc saying that he led the bowling attack really well and was instrumental in the victory.
Australia won the second Test of the Ashes 2021-22 in Adelaide by 275 runs taking a 2-0 lead in the series. Pat Cummins missed out on the Test due to Covid-19 scare and Steve Smith was the stand-in captain for the fixture.
Batting first, Australia declared on a score of 473/9. Marnus Labuschagne was the highest run-getter for the team scoring 103 runs. England were wrapped up on 236 in response. Australia declared on 230/9 in the second innings and set a target of 468 runs for the opposition. England were bundled out on 192 chasing the target.
David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne stitched a 172 runs partnership for the second wicket in the first innings. David Warner scored 95 runs in the innings and Labuschagne scored a century. The partnership by duo helped the team score a winning total. Mitchell Starc picked six wickets in the fixture. Smith praised these three players for their roles in the victory.
"I had fun this week, enjoyed it, and the guys played well. Davey (Warner) and Marnus's partnership set it up, so we could control the game,” he stated.
"A special mention to Starc, who has bowled as well as he's bowled in a long time, and he's led the attack really well. I think he summed it up quickly that it wasn't swinging and he was just hitting a good length and attacking the batsmen.”
Jos Buttler was seen battling to save the Test match and prevent the loss of his side on the last day. He played a patient innings of 26 runs from 207 balls. Ollie Robinson tried to show resistance playing 39 balls to score 8 runs. Smith revealed that the team was hopeful of getting a couple of wickets in the last session and weren’t nervous.
"I wouldn't say nervous, Buttler showed some resistance, he's normally a bit of a dasher, but plenty of time and we thought a couple of good balls, a couple of wickets,” he explained.
Australia have announced their 15-member squad for the remaining Ashes series and there aren’t any changes in it. Josh Hazlewood has returned to the squad while Cummins will return after serving his period of isolation. Smith said that he has no idea about the availability of Hazlewood for the next match.
"I have no idea about Josh Hazlewood (availability for the next game), but Harris is batting well in the nets, so he needs to not overthink it and trust the process and he can turn it around," he concluded.
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