England kept their dreams of winning the Ashes alive on a wild second day in Leeds. Ben Stokes had another great game at Headingley, and Moeen Ali took his 200th Test wicket.
Stokes hit 80 out of 108 while playing on one leg because of a problem with his glute. This helped England go from 142-7 to 237 all out, giving up only 26 runs in the first innings. This was four years after he scored 135 not out on this ground and five days after he scored 155 at Lord’s.
Off-spinner Moeen then got rid of Marnus Labuschagne (33) and Steve Smith (2) in quick succession. Then, Chris Woakes got rid of Usman Khawaja (43), and Australia went from 68-1 to 90-4. They ended their innings on 116-4 with a 142-run lead and Mitchell Marsh (17no) and Travis Head (18no) at the crease.
Labuschagne and Smith were both out in a weak way. Labuschagne hit Moeen into the deep two balls after Jonny Bairstow missed him, and Smith hit a ball to midwicket before Bairstow waved him off and said, “See you, Smudge.”
Stuart Broad “vaporized” David Warner (1) for the 17th time in Ashes cricket, which was also a lot of fun.
Ollie Robinson didn’t bowl because of a back pain, and neither did Ben Stokes. However, the limited attack built on their captain’s work with the bat as they try to stop Australia from keeping the Ashes as soon as possible. Australia is 2-0 up in the five-match series.
The pitch is now giving off a lot of bounce, which could make it hard to score in the fourth innings. However, the home team will be encouraged by the fact that West Indies scored 332 in 2017 and England scored 359 against Australia in 2019 and then 269 against New Zealand last summer.
