Late collapse puts England on ropes
MITCHELL Starc went from agony to ecstasy as the brave fast bowler fought back from serious discomfort to dramatically put Australia in charge of the Sydney Test.
Another Joe Root choke with a hundred in sight and a Jonny Bairstow brain explosion has left England’s long tail completely exposed at a point when they had Starc and Australia’s tiring quicks on the ropes.
Starc broke the game open by creating something from nothing with the second new ball when he marched Root, and then in the final over of the day Josh Hazlewood made Bairstow pay for his stunning decision not to use a nightwatchman, leaving England on their knees at 5-233.
Australia was torn over whether to give Starc a home Ashes Test match in Sydney or wrap him in cotton wool for the crucial upcoming tour of South Africa, and in the shadows of stumps selectors would have been seriously questioning the wisdom of their decision.
Starc’s speeds had plummeted to a stunning low of 127km/h and he appeared to be cramping badly and feeling his bruised foot, as he limped in for one last shot at England captain Root (83) who had his sights set on a century and burying Australia’s tiring quicks.
But from nowhere, Starc burst through the pain barrier to banish Root in incredible fashion in the second last over of the day — thanks to a brilliant diving catch from Mitchell Marsh, opening the door for Hazlewood to strike down Bairstow seven balls later.
Stranded not out England batsman Dawid Malan (55 not out) could not hide his shock that Bairstow decided to bypass the option of a nightwatchman and walk directly into the path of Australia’s most deadly accurate seamer.
With that, the position of power England had built up evaporated and now it’s up to the shockingly out of form Moeen Ali to rescue them from a butchered first innings.
Root was ruthlessly smothering Starc and the also-weary Hazlewood and Pat Cummins into the dirt, before the leftarm destroyer showed why selectors were prepared to risk him as he took the second new ball and broke the game apart at the 11th hour.
“It was great to get the late reward. I thought the boys toiled really hard,” Marsh said post-match.
Asked if he was shocked at Bairstow’s gutsy but foolish decision to come out to bat with only minutes left in the day, Marsh went straight to the point. “I was very surprised, yep,” he said.
Even Malan, who held up his end well through the day, thought it was a strange one.
“I was a little bit (surprised),” he said. “The decision is down to the batsman that’s in next to make and Jonny made that decision and it takes a lot of guts to go against what people normally do and he probably thought he was more suited to (face) the new ball.”