Join the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletter and get behind-the-scenes access and unrivalled insightJoin the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletterJoin the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletterEngland were embarking on an adrenaline fuelled run-chase on a manic second day at the MCG as they sought a first Test win on Australian soil in nearly 15 years.A second two-day finish of the series was on the menu in Melbourne, with England 77 for two in pursuit of 175 at the tea break.After both teams were bowled out on the first day, England bagged 10 more scalps to roll the hosts for 132 inside 35 overs, leaving them an opportunity to end their winless sequence dating back three tours and 18 Tests behind enemy lines.To do so they would need the biggest score of the match on a seamer’s paradise but made vital inroads as they took their chances with all-out attack.Ben Duckett was in the thick of things as the chase began, flicking Mitchell Starc for a pair of tension-relieving boundaries off his pads before a pair of near misses. His off stump survived thanks to an inch of late movement and when he popped a leading edge back down the track, a sprawling Starc could not hold on.Perhaps buoyed by the palpable shift in momentum, Zak Crawley blazed Michael Neser for an audacious straight six and leathered his follow-up hard through cover. Duckett was riding his luck as far it would take him, beaten on a handful of occasions but finding enough composure to step across and ramp Neser for six over the wicketkeeper’s head.His rollercoaster knock off 34 in 26 balls ended when Starc speared one through him at pace. The stadium announcer initially announced Harry Brook as his replacement, rather than the carded Jacob Bethell, but England had an even bigger surprise up their sleeve as Carse walked out.It was an unpredictable move but a predictable result, as Australia set the field back and waited for one to fly high in the air of a wild miss-hit. The gambit lasted eight balls and brought six runs before Bethell belatedly joined the action.England’s first job of the day involved removing nightwatcher Scott Boland, who opened the batting for a single over to rapturous applause from his home crowd on the first evening.Atkinson took care of that, a hint of extra bounce in the channel enough to unpick his back-foot block. Atkinson’s joy was shortlived, though, clutching his left hamstring at the end of his fourth over. He departed immediately for…
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2025-12-27 04:27:58
