Australia is in a strong position against England after day one of the day-night second Ashes Test in Adelaide. The hosts finished day one on 221 for two despite missing regular skipper Pat Cummins after he was forced out before the start of the match after being identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Stuart Broad removed Marcus Harris for three runs early on via a cracking catch off the delivery of Jos Buttler as a stuttering Australia failed to convince.
The first 10 overs yielded just 11 runs but slowly, the scorecard began to firm up with David Warner forging a 172-run stand with Labuschagne.
England dominated the first session though, they blew two reviews trying to get Warner, who made 95.
But as England captain Joe Root brought himself into the attack to provide rest to his quicks, Warner appeared eager to up his scoring rate. Broad proved Warner’s nemesis once more but this time as a catcher, holding onto a slashed shot at cover off Ben Stokes.
David Warner fell short of his century but Marnus Labuschagne remained on course for a hundred as they put Australia in a strong position.
With five overs remaining, Buttler dropped a regulation catch off the bowling of James Anderson to offer a reprieve to Labuschagne, who remained not out on 95. Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith was on 18, becoming his country’s third captain – after Tim Paine and Cummins – in the last three tests.
For Australia, pace bowler Michael Neser made his test debut replacing Cummins.
