Burns’ maiden ton helps England take initiative in Ashes opener
BIRMINGHAM, England, (Reuters) Rory Burns smashed an unbeaten maiden test century as England gained the upper hand in the first Ashes test by finishing day two on 267-4, trailing Australia by just 17 runs yesterday.
Jason Roy’s first Ashes innings never really got going as he was out for 10, before Joe Root benefited from a stroke of luck after a superb delivery from James Pattinson beat him and clipped the wickets but the bails did not come off.
Root and Burns went on to record the series’ first century partnership, but the England captain failed to make three figures, falling to Peter Siddle for 57, with Joe Denly (18) and Jos Buttler (5) unable to provide support.
Burns reached his century off 223 balls, following nine dot balls stuck on
99. He will resume his innings on 125 not out, alongside Ben Stokes on
38.
“I have done that before in county cricket so do have experience to draw upon,” Burns said. “It was a wonderful experience and hopefully I am not done yet.”
Resuming on 10-0, Roy edged through the slips in just the second over off the bowling of Pattinson, before Steve Smith held on to one off the same bowler in the eighth.
Burns got away with a leg before wicket appeal which replays showed was going on to hit the stumps, before Root’s luck was in in the 21st over as the bails failed to dislodge, much to the dismay of the Australian fielders, who crowded around Root in disbelief.
Root was initially given out caught behind, but another poor decision from the umpires was overturned by the Decision Review System.
After lunch, Burns clipped the ball fine to the boundary to reach his first half century against Australia as England pressed on.
Burns and Root continued to play their shots, becoming the first pairing to make a century partnership this series, before Root reached 50 off 110 Australia 1st innings
Cameron Bancroft c Joe Root b Stuart Broad
David Warner lbw
Stuart Broad
Usman Khawaja c Jonny Bairstow b Chris Woakes
Steven Smith b Stuart Broad Travis Head lbw
Chris Woakes
Matthew Wade lbw
Chris Woakes 1 Tim Paine c Rory Burns b Stuart Broad 5 James Pattinson lbw
Stuart Broad
Pat Cummins lbw
Ben Stokes 5 Peter Siddle c Jos Buttler b Moeen Ali 44 Nathan Lyon Not Out 12 Extras 0b 13lb 0nb 0pen 2w 15 Total (80.4 overs) 284 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-2 Warner, 2-17 Bancroft, 3-35 Khawaja, 4-99 Head, 5105 Wade, 6-112 Paine, 7-112 Pattinson, 8-122 Cummins, 9-210 Siddle, 10-284 Smith Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex James Anderson 4 3 1 0 0.25 Stuart 8 2
13 144
35 0
balls.
Root, though, again failed to turn a half century into a hundred as he was brilliantly caught one handed by Siddle, with Denly the next to go, trapped lbw by Pattinson.
A fine catch from Cameron Bancroft brought an end to Buttler’s stay at the crease but, after a nervy wait, Burns Broad 22.4 4 86 5 3.79 Chris Woakes 21 2 58 3 2.76 Ben Stokes 18 1 77 1 4.28 2w Moeen Ali 13 3 42 1 3.23 Joe Denly 2 1 7 0 3.50
England 1st innings Rory Burns Not Out Jason Roy c Steven Smith b James Pattinson Joe Root c&b Peter Siddle Joe Denly lbw James Pattinson Jos Buttler c Cameron Bancroft b Pat Cummins 5 Ben Stokes Not Out 38
Extras 5b 7lb 0nb 0pen 2w 14 Total (90.0 overs) 267-4 Fall of Wickets : 1-22 Roy, 2-154 Root, 3-189 Denly, 4-194 Buttler To Bat : Bairstow, Ali, Woakes, Broad, Anderson Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Pat Cummins 21 6 65 1 3.10 James Pattinson 17 2 54 2 3.18 1w Peter Siddle 21 5 43 1 2.05 Nathan Lyon 28 4 79 0 2.82 Matthew Wade 1 0 7 0 7.00 1w Travis Head 2 1 7 0 3.50
Umpire Joel Wilson Umpire Aleem Dar Video Christopher Gaffaney
Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle 125
10 57 18
became the first batsman to make a hundred on his Ashes debut since Tim Robinson - this match’s fourth umpire – in 1985 as the day belonged to the inexperienced opener.
“It was just one of those days,” Australia team adviser for this tour Steve Waugh said. “Lots of near misses. Tomorrow is when it really counts.”