Joe Root was dropped twice as England yesterday made a steady start on the opening day of the final Ashes Test at the Oval, reaching 86-1 at lunch.
Visiting captain Tim Paine asked the home side to bat, hoping his bowlers could take advantage of early overcast conditions in south London, but will rue the two bad fumbles.
Joe Denly and Rory Burns had to dig deep to keep Australia’s lively pace pair of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood at bay in the testing opening overs.
Photo: AP
England had an early scare when Burns was given out LBW with the score on just 7, but successfully reviewed the decision, with the ball tracker showing it was going over the stumps.
However, Australia did not have to wait long for a breakthrough, with Cummins removing Denly in the ninth over to leave England 27-1.
Denly pushed unnecessarily at a wide delivery and Steve Smith held on to complete a juggling catch at second slip.
That brought captain Root to the crease, with the England captain keen to make amends after an inconsistent series.
However, the skipper had an astonishing let-off when, on 24, he top-edged a pull off Cummins to deep fine-leg, only for recalled Peter Siddle to drop a straightforward catch, much to the delight of the nearby crowd.
In Cummins’ next over, Root again had a huge let-off when wicketkeeper Paine failed to cling on to a one-handed chance high to his right.
At the lunch break, Burns was 42 not out, with Root unbeaten on 28.
Australia won at Old Trafford last week to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, meaning they will retain the urn, regardless of the result at the Oval.
However, Paine said that his side were “very hungry” to complete the job and win their first Test series in England since 2001.
To stand any chance of leveling the series, Cricket World Cup winners England would have to find a way to solve the riddle of immovable Steve Smith, who has scored 671 runs in just five innings at an astonishing average of more than 134.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh and seamer Siddle were brought in for the tourists, with batsman Travis Head and paceman Mitchell Starc missing out.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS