Ashes 2023 | Twitter reacts as Australia's top-order self-destructs after Stokes fireworks to keep England alive on Day 2

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Headingley played host to yet another riveting day of cricket with both teams failing to seize their opportunities leading to an evenly-balanced game heading into Saturday. Both captains led their teams from the front as Pat Cummins scalped six wickets while Ben Stokes struck a destructive 80.

After being 68/3 overnight while trailing Australia's first innings total of 263, England got off to a horrific start on Friday in Leeds with former skipper Joe Root nicking a Pat Cummins delivery to first slip on the second ball of the day. Jonny Bairstow (12 off 37 balls) and Moeen Ali (21 off 46 balls) displayed some grit at the crease, a rare sight ever since Brendon McCullum took over as head coach with Ben Stokes as his on-field enforcer, but failed to withstand the visiting onslaught for long and were back in the pavilion before Lunch. Chris Woakes was the last to fall in the first session of play and left the hosts reeling at 142/7 with the men from Down Under firmly in charge.

Post Lunch, England reverted to the attacking instincts that have brought them great success over the past year, led by an unlikely hero in Mark Wood. The tailender sounded off in some style and shred apart Australia's short-ball strategy by dispatching the first three deliveries of the new session for two sixes and a boundary. His 8-ball 24 shifted the momentum back in England's favour, triggering Ben Stokes to go on another trademark rampage alongside the tail. The skipper struck six boundaries and five maximums to accelerate from 28(71) to 80(108), aided by two dropped catches from Mitchell Starc and Todd Murphy respectively. The effort took his side to 237 while opposing skipper Pat Cummins finished with outstanding figures of 6/91.

With their lead just 26, the Australian openers walked into bat under the bright sun with an hour to go for Tea but failed to establish a significant stand once again as David Warner fell victim to Stuart Broad for the 17th time in Test cricket. Marnus Labuschagne braved the storm thereon with a shaky 33 but just when he seemed to have settled down, the third-ranked batter in the world threw his wicket away to Moeen Ali with a rash slog sweep. Steve Smith soon followed suit after facing just nine deliveries with a surprisingly soft dismissal to hand the off-spinner his second scalp, thus inviting England back into the game. The hosts grasped at their opportunity without hesitation by getting rid of Usman Khawaja for a solid 43 to whittle Australia down to 90/4. However, Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head yet again stepped up to the plate to save their team the blushes, albeit with much less flamboyance this time around, as they remained unbeaten on 17 and 18 respectively to steer Australia to116/4 at Stumps. 

Fast and furious

lol

Special one

Absolutely correct

Curtains?

Gotta do it!

Aussies winning it

Let's see

True

Another one

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