Malan agonises after another batting flop

DAWID MALAN could not conceal his frustration after another batting collapse left England struggling in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.

Although Malan and captain Joe Root shared their second century stand of the series, the separation of the Yorkshire duo early in the second session triggered a collapse of eight wickets for 86 runs.

By the close of day three, Australia had opened their lead to 282 runs with nine second-innings wickets intact and in a strong place from which to push for a 2-0 lead with three matches to play.

‘It was disappointing. To have fought our way back, it was frustrating to get another 100 runs and leave the door open for them,’ Malan told Test Match Special.

‘Compared to what we’re used to in England, the pitch is a lot better to bat on.’ Malan does not give himself a free pass despite scoring more runs and facing more balls than anyone in the away dressing room over the last three innings, insisting scores of 82 and 80 are not enough to get the job done.

‘It’s too easy to keep saying: “Oh, we’re unlucky; we nicked a few; we played some bad shots; this and that” — but we actually need to find a way of putting some runs on the board as a collective,’ he said.

‘If we knew why the collapses happened, we would stop them but, hopefully, we can put in some performances as a team.

‘To get back into a position where we could get within touching distance of them and then lose eight wickets is very disappointing.’

It has proved trickier to combat the bowlers after dark during the day-nighter, though, and Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith surprised some with his decision not to enforce the follow-on when England were dismissed for 236.

However, Smith found an ally in Malan who said: ‘Australia will still get two cracks at us under the lights. If I was them, I would have done the same.’