England played a copybook test match at Adelaide and surged ahead in the Ashes series, for what according to me is a winning lead. They did nothing wrong and everything went wrong for the Aussies. I am going to keep this post very brief since this is way too late after the result, but it is a milestone event in Australian cricket history in my mind. I think the recovery from the current drop in their rating is going to be long and hard. They need a Bob Simpson or a Alan Border to drag them out of this. Ponting or Clarke cannot do that job.
In the first innings, they got Australians all out by the end of day one. During that brief period, the Australians lost 2 wickets in two balls twice. Ricky Ponting continued his dismal form with the bat and with the captaincy in this test too. Only Mike Hussey and Haddin provided some resistance, but England bowlers were up to the task and I think Strauss’s bowling changes were spot on. The English reply was a mammoth 620/5 decl. After Strauss and Cook, this was Pietersen’s turn to come to the party. He scored a magnificent double century and more importantly got the confidence and the swagger back, That only means bad news for the Aussies. Cook and Collingwood also chipped in and on the current form I don’t know how the Australian attack can claim the 20 wickets required to win a test match.
With a lead of 375 runs and one thought the Australians would show true grit that they are known for and save the game. But it was a repeat of the first innings and in the end England won very convincingly by an innings and 71 runs.
As one looks back, the Australian batting, bowling and fielding has been in atrocious. The fact that they dropped some easy catches and missed run outs, indicates their state of confidence. There has been some chopping and churning in their squad before the Perth test, but I do not expect any difference in the result. If they do well, they may just reduce the margin of their loss.
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