A SPECTACLE AT THE ADELAIDE OVAL

Test cricket is alive and it was dazzling under lights at the Adelaide Oval when two of the best sides in the world and certainly the oldest rivalry in the history of test cricket dished out a wonderful exhibition of test match cricket. Joe Root won he toss and to everyone's surprise, decided to field first. We all thought there goes another 500 for Australia but English bowlers kept it really tight to keep a check on the scoreboard. Shaun Marsh finally had his moment as he smashed 126 to help Australia reach 442 when Steve Smith decided to declare to have a few overs at English top order under lights. Starc got Stoneman before rain ended the day's play. Third morning was a disaster for England as not one of their top six could go on and make a big one against a very high quality bowling attack. England lacked patience and ability to cope with pace and bounce. Having talked a lot about Starc-Hazlewood-Cummins, I thought Nathan Lyon was the best bowler on display because of his variations and a probing length. Steve Smith decided not to enforce the follow on which according to some people was a horrific decision given that the last session was going to be played under lights which is a huge advantage to the seamers. I thought that he made the right decision taking into consideration the availability of four bowlers and idea to bat England out of the game. But the plan was nowhere near to be followed as Australia lost 4 wickets in the twilight of day 3. Jimmy Anderson was at his very best along with Chris Woakes and Aussies had no idea which way the ball was going. Australia were skittled out for 138 giving England an outside chance to chase down 354 in about five sessions. 354 was never going to be easy by any stretch of imagination as the history suggests and Nathan Lyon was going to be even more threatening. But England found a positive start in Mark Stoneman while Alastair Cook was steady at the other end. Aussies could get only 3 wickets in the best part of two sessions while Lyon was too good from the other end. After top three had got out for not too many, Root came in at no. 4 and looked a class apart with a number of fluent drives off his New Balance willow. Meanwhile Smith lost both the reviews in the span of three balls and Barmy Army was in full swing in letting Smith know his bizzare decision. Finally Smith could feel a sigh of relief when a super hostile Patrick Cummins went through the defence of Dawid Malan who promised so much with his technique. England ended the day at 176/4 needing another 178 to pull off a dramatic comeback. Adelaide Oval was packed in anticipation of an Aussie victory and lots of English fans came in with a very little hope an English triumph. But all the anticipation was put to bed by Mitchell Starc as he produced a five-for in a fierce spell of fast bowling before Josh Hazlewood had removed Chris Woakes and Joe Root early in the first session. Tail enders went back as fast as they came in.
     It is looking doom and gloom for England as they have a lot of issues to address in a week's time. Converting 50s into big ones is still an unsolved problem. The only positive out of that game is that they found some ways to get Steve Smith out pretty cheaply. Bowling unit showed that they can take 20 wickets but batting is a serious issue and make no mistake about it, this is by no means a great Australian side. Adelaide was the best chance for England and to be honest, the next three pitches are not going to be suitable to England. If pitch is hard, it's gonna suit Aussie pace trio and if it's spinning, Nathan Lyon will be able to extract a lot more than Moeen Ali who hasn't quite shown his potential in this series. No English team has ever come back from 2-0 down to win an Ashes in Australia. I am afraid the dreaded word 'Whitewash' has started to spread in the media because it has to!