Josh Tongue was the player of the session as England had Australia struggling at 72/4 at Lunch. The trend continued into the second session of the day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as the pacer bowled well. He was well supported by Ben Stokes, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse as they chipped-in with wickets as well.
Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey came in to bat after Lunch with hopes of putting up a solid partnership. However, that endeavor lasted just a few overs as Khawaja was dismissed by Atkinson after some lovely bowling. Jamie Smith took a good catch behind the stumps for the dismissal as the pacer picked up his second wicket.
Shortly after, Carey made his way back to the stands after some brilliant tactical work by Stokes off his own bowling. Having seen the batter’s tendencies on the previous ball, the England captain moved Zak Crawley to a fine leg gully position. The next ball bounced into Carey’s pads as he tried to attack it, only scooping it to Crawley.
The going looked bleak for Australia, who were 91/6 after the fall of that wicket. Partnerships were the need of the hour. That came from Cameron Green and Michael Neser, who added 52 runs for the seventh wicket with some good batting. Neser was the more attacking of the two, while Green played a couple decent shots as well. However, the all-rounder had to depart after sharp work by Carse to run him out for 17.
That wicket exposed the Australian tail way quicker than they or captain Steve Smith would have anticipated. Carse then contributed with ball in hand as he bowled an inviting fuller ball to Mitchell Starc, who was eager to have a swing but mistimed his shot. Ben Stokes did really well to track back from extra cover to take a lovely catch in the deep.
Josh Tongue cleaned up the last two wickets in two consecutive deliveries to bring an end to arguably Australia’s worst batting performance this Ashes series. He dismissed Neser for a well made 35 with a delivery identical to the one that sealed Smith’s fate, crashing into the stumps from a full length. Scott Boland’s time in the middle was short-lived as he nicked one to Harry Brook in the slips off the first ball he faced.
Stokes and England will be mighty pleased with their effort as the bowling unit have answered their critics with a great performance on the first day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Questions were asked about having just three out-and-out bowlers in the line-up, and how they would cope without Jofra Archer. However, those doubts have been put to rest in magnificent style.
England’s openers will have their work cut out for them. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley will get us underway, with Mitchell Starc likely to open the bowling for Australia. Don’t go anywhere as we will resume after Tea on Day 1!
