Ashes 2017-18, 2nd Test, Day 2, Review: Shaun Marsh's ton helps Australia post 442/8 on a rain-hit day

Australia ended the second day with an advantage after scoring a huge total over 400 and then scalped Mark Stoneman before the rain had the final say under lights. The stage was set for the bowlers of the hosts to set the stage ablaze in the floodlit final session. But only 9.1 overs of play was possible with the clouds opening up to rain heavily. However, Shaun Marsh was the talking point of the day who slammed a sensational century to give Australia a hefty first-innings total.

The play was started half an hour early on the day to recover the lost overs on the first day when the rain had intervened in the first session. England got off to a dream start as Stuart Broad caught the overnight batsman Peter Handscomb in front of the stumps off the third ball of the day. But Tim Paine who walked played a fine counter-attacking innings. He collected some quick runs as Shaun Marsh eased into his stance in the first hour. Both survived the tough passage of play as the DRS saved them with the umpires giving them out in the first place.

They added 85 runs with Paine being the major contributor who was scalped by Craig Overton off a short ball soon after the tea break. Mitchell Starc followed soon as Australian scorecard read 311/7 and England hoped to wrap things up soon. However, Pat Cummins, much like he did at the Gabba, stayed put with Marsh and frustrated the visitors. The left-hander took the onus of scoring runs as his partner got off the mark after almost 30 deliveries.

Shaun Marsh – The Saviour

He played a game-changing innings for his country as he brought up a fighting century in the dying stages of the second session. His drives were absolutely pleasant and the footwork against the spin was swift as he went about his business. He came in when his team had lost their skipper and the score of Australia read 161/4 under lights on the first day. He saw through the tough period and cashed in on a sunny day on the super Sunday. Soon after the dinner break, Steve Smith decided to declare as his team had plundered 442 runs for the loss of just eight wickets.

All the English bowlers bowled well but were left ruing their luck as it went the way of the Aussies most of the time. Also, they looked decent in patches which didn’t help their cause and went on to concede over 400 runs despite having the opposition under the pump on 311/7.

Smith and his troops came out with the pink cherry in their hands and thought of picking a few quick wickets to put the poms under pressure. The new ball jagged a lot under lights with Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc operating in high 140s as far as the speeds were concerned. Alastair Cook and Stoneman started well as runs flowed. But the latter was late on the full pitched delivery of Starc and was caught in front of the stumps.

Cook survived a close call off Pat Cummins on the first ball of his spell after which the rain gods arrived. Eventually, England were pleased to go away from the field as Australian bowlers were looking menacing. The hosts would’ve loved a few more wickets as England finished on 29/1 staring at a monumental total posted by Australia. However, they were left blaming themselves with dropped catches and losing the advantage of winning the toss.

Brief Scores

Australia 442/8decl (S Marsh 126*, T Paine 57; C Overton 3/105)

England 29/1 (M Starc 1/13)