Adelaide: Nathan Lyon took two wickets to surpass Glenn McGrath at No. 2 on Australia’s all-time bowling list, and returning skipper Pat Cummins took his first wickets of the series as a relentless bowling attack kept England in trouble in the third Ashes test.
Australia resumed Day 2 at 326-8 and was out for 371 with Mitchell Starc posting a half-century before Jofra Archer finished off the tailenders to return 5-53, his fourth five-wicket haul in test cricket.
By stumps England had struggled to 213 for eight, still 158 behind.
England was coasting at 37-0 in reply until Cummins struck. Lyon then took two wickets in his first over as England lost three wickets in 15 balls.
It was a struggle the rest of the day for England, which needs to bat long to revive its chances in this five-test series on a pitch and conditions that traditionally favor batting at the Adelaide Oval.
The Australian bowlers and fielders spent most of the day in the field in temperatures hitting 40C (104F), but most of the heat was on England skipper Ben Stokes.
He spent around four hours at the crease, getting hit on the helmet and the body and appearing to struggle with cramping. His mood wasn’t helped by more contentious outcomes from the Decision Review System technology.
His defiant, unbeaten 45 from 151 balls and his unbroken 45-run stand with No. 10 Archer (30) at least helped England’s innings go into another day.
Early wickets
Cummins was recovering from a back injury when he missed the wins in Perth and Brisbane which gave Australia a 2-0 series lead. In his first spell on return, he dismissed opener Zak Crawley (9) to trigger a top-order slide.
Lyon was introduced for the 10th over and the 38-year-old offspinner had immediate success with two wickets in four balls to remove Ollie Pope (3) and Ben Duckett (29) as England slumped to 42-3.
Pope’s wicket allowed him to equal retired paceman McGrath’s career haul of 563.
Lyon soon bowled Duckett with a drifting delivery that took out off stump. TV coverage showed McGrath in a stadium commentary booth pretending to throw a chair around in mock annoyance.
Only Shane Warne — with 708 wickets in 145 tests from 1992-2007 — is above Lyon on the Australia’s list of test wicket-takers.
It was a huge comeback for Lyon, who only bowled two overs in Perth and was omitted from the lineup that won the second test in Brisbane.
He bowled 22 overs for figures of 2-51. Cummins had 3-54 and Scott Boland returned 2-31.
“It’s a pretty big effort so (we’ll) rest up, recover and we’ll have another crack in the morning,” Lyon said of Australia’s bowling attack. “We’re in a great position.”
Stokes innings
England needs victory in Adelaide to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes, and is relying on a big performance from Stokes.
He weathered all kinds of pressure after going to the crease at 71-4 when Cummins dismissed Joe Root. Stokes was hit on the side of the helmet by a 145 kph (90 mph) Starc bouncer. A thick inside edge onto his thigh had him hopping around on 41, too.
“Ben obviously scrapped hard,” England’s assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said. “It’s almost like he focuses his best when … it’s really tricky and tough and it’s conditions or situations that other people don’t succeed in.”
Key moment
Cameron Green struck on his third delivery to end a 56-run fifth-wicket stand, getting the edge of Harry Brook’s bat with a ball that moved away.
Brook scored 45 before he was out in the 37th over, adding just one run after getting a reprieve when he was given out caught behind off Lyon’s bowling but successfully reviewed the decision with the TV umpire.
DRS
There were more DRS dramas, on top of the contentious review on Wednesday that gave Australia’s Alex Carey a reprieve on 72 on the way to his first Ashes century.
Jamie Smith was on 16 when he appeared to glove a catch to Usman Khawaja in the slips. On-field umpires referred the catch to the TV umpire, who ruled it didn’t hit the glove or the bat before clipping Smith’s helmet and deemed it was not out. The Australians were in disbelief, with one player saying: “Snicko needs to be sacked.”
The next call went against England when Cummins got a thin edge from the toe of Smith’s bat as it carried to Carey. The on-field umpire gave it out, a decision confirmed by the TV umpire despite a seemingly indecisive spike as the ball went past the bat.
