Adelaide [Australia], December 18 (ANI): Australian pacer Mitchell Starc continued to have an Ashes campaign for ages, becoming the first-ever cricketer to have 10 fifty-plus scores at number nine or lower in Test cricket.
Starc achieved this feat during the third Ashes Test against England at Adelaide Oval. Batting at number nine, Starc once again delivered, scoring a quick 75-ball 54, with nine boundaries.
Batting at number nine or lower, Starc has been extremely servicable for Australia with the bat, scoring 1,745 runs at an average of 24.57, with nine fifties in 95 innings and best score of 99.
His distant rivals are England’s Stuart Broad (2,305 runs in 127 Tests, with a century and five fifties) and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori (1,275 runs in 58 Tests with a century and five fifties), with six fifty-plus scores each.
This Ashes series at home has been nothing short of a dream for Starc so far, with 143 runs in three Tests at an average of 47.66, with two fifties in three innings. He is the fifth-highest run-getter in the series. With the ball, he has taken 18 wickets at an average of 15.33, with two five-wicket hals and best figures of 7/58 across five innings and reigns supreme in the wickets charts.
At the end of the session, England was 59/3, with Joe Root (11*) and Harry Brook (6*) unbeaten. They trail by 312 runs.
Australia started day 2 at 326/8, with Nathan Lyon (0) and Mitchell Starc (33*).
Starc started the day on a positive note for the Aussies, smashing two boundaries each against Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse.
He reached his second fifty of the series in 73 balls, with eight fours, continuing a dream run in the series.
However, the partying did not last very long for the Aussies as Jofra Archer trapped Nathan Lyon plumb for a 35-ball 9. Australia was skittled out for 371 in 91.2 overs.
Archer (5/53) was the star for England, while Brydon Carse and Will Jacks chipped in with two wickets. Josh Tongue got one.
England started their first innings on an aggressive note, with Duckett collecting four boundaries in the first four overs against Starc and skipper Pat Cummins.
However, England’s fortunes started taking a hit as Zak Crawley (9 in 19 balls) nicked it to Alex Carey, giving skipper Cummins a wicket. England was 37/1 in 7.4 overs.
Nathan Lyon struck twice in the ninth over, getting Ollie Pope caught by Josh Inglis for a 10-ball 3, continuing his flop run in the series and ended the over by cleaning up Duckett for a 30-ball 29, with five fours. England looked at all sorts of trouble at 42/3 in 10 overs.
Lyon also went past Glenn McGrath to become Australia’s second-highest Test wicket-taker behind late spin wizard Shane Warne (708).
England reached their 50-run mark in 12.4 overs as Joe Root and Harry Brook made sure England played out the rest of the session without any losses.
Earlier, Aussies ended the proceedings on day one at 326/8, with Alex Carey (106 in 143 balls, with eight fours and a six) scoring his first Ashes ton after Aussies were down and out at 94/4. Usman Khawaja (82 in 126 balls, with 10 fours) marked a commendable return to the side with a knock consisting of crispy cuts and trademark slog sweeps.
Brief Scores: Australia: 371 (Alex Carey 106, Usman Khawaja 82, Jofra Archer: 5/53) vs England: 59/3 (Ben Duckett 29, Joe Root 11*, Nathan Lyon 2/14). (ANI)
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