Australia led by Steven Smith at the Adelaide Oval were all over struggling England's batting unit as they registered a huge victory in the second Test match to take a lead of 2-0 lead in the series! A victory for Australia by a 275-run margin speaks volumes about the struggle of the visiting team on this tour!
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Australia took charge on all these days except for a part on Day 5 where England looked threatened to push the match towards a draw. David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne dominated with the bat on Day 1. Warner missed out on his second consecutive Test century as he was dismissed on 95. But Labuschagne went on to register his third century in D/N Tests, the only player to make this feat so far!
Labuschange who was dismissed on 103 was dropped twice by Jos Buttler on 21 off Stokes' bowling and on 95 off Anderson's bowling and was also bowled off a no-ball on 102! Steven Smith, back as captain, too missed out on his century as he was dismissed on 93! Lower down the order, Alex Carey scored his maiden half-century in Tests while Mitchell Starc (39*) and Michael Neser (35) too contributed with the bat as Australia declared their first innings with 473/9 on the board.
Just like the Gabba innings, Dawid Malan (80) and Joe Root (62) contributed but with no support from the other end England were bowled out for 236 conceding a lead of 237 runs to the home team! Steven Smith did not opt to enforce the follow-on as Australia declared their second innings with 230/9 on the board. Labuschagne (51) and Travis Head (51) scored the fifties each in this innings!
Chasing a 400+ total to win in the fourth innings, England lost their first four wickets, and losing Joe Root off the last delivery on Day 4 brought the home team back into the game! Jos Buttler (26 off 207) and Chris Woakes (44 off 97) pushed the game as late as possible but Australia's defeat was inevitable in this match who went on to win the match by 275 runs!
Marnus Labuschagne (103 & 51) has been adjudged as the Player of the Match for his crucial contribution with the bat. With this victory, Australia are currently leading the 5-match Ashes series by 2-0 with 3 matches to go! The third Test match will be played at the iconic MCG venue beginning on Boxing Day (Dec 26).
Brief Scores: Australia - 473/9 decl (Marnus Labuschane - 103, Ben Stokes - 3/113) & 230/9 decl (Marnus Labuschagne - 51, Joe Root - 2/27) defeated England - 236 all out (Dawid Malan - 80, Mitchell Starc - 4/37) & 192 all out (Chris Woakes - 44, Jhye Richardson - 5/42) by a margin of 275 runs
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