Join Football Join Football Newsletter Football newsletterEngland’s batting imploded once again as their hopes of keeping the Ashes alive suffered a body blow on the second day in Adelaide.After defeats in Perth and Brisbane, England moved closer to an irretrievable 3-0 deficit as the top-order wilted in all too familiar fashion.Jofra Archer finished off Australia for 371 in the morning session as he wrapped up figures of five for 53, a modest score the tourists should have been looking to go past on a benign surface.With the temperatures topping 40 degrees, the conditions were set for an under-performing batting group to make hay. They Pope’s innings was easily the worst, flicking limply to midwicket to end an awkward 10-ball stay and, potentially, his time as England’s number three.Brook made 45 as he shared a half-century stand with Ben Stokes, with the captain deep in his trench on 19 not out from 76 deliveries.Australia relied on two returning stars to do the damage, captain Pat Cummins and spinner Nathan Lyon taking two wickets each, while all-rounder Cameron Green was the man to end Brook’s fightback with a fine ball just before the interval.The hosts started the day by adding another 45 runs for their last two wickets against indisciplined bowling, but Archer eventually picked off Mitchell Starc and Lyon to close the innings and register a first Test five-for since 2019.There was a brief glimpse of the kind of day England could have had as Ben Duckett picked up some cheap boundaries against the new ball, but old frailties were quickly exposed.Crawley was first to fall for nine, caught behind trying to defend a fine delivery from Cummins, and Pope was all over the place before gifting his wicket with a horribly tame chip to midwicket for three.He now averages 17.66 in 15 innings against Australia and looks a long way from improving that damning record.That brought Lyon level with the career tally of Australian great Glenn McGrath on 563 and he needed to three balls to go past him, and into sixth on the all-time list. Duck
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2025-12-18 04:53:54
