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Journalism of Courage
England, resuming the day’s play at 343/7, were expected to come out positive, if not all guns blazing. They had recovered from a disastrous start of 43/3, and anything in excess of the overnight total would have been bonus runs for the hosts.
Bright and sunny conditions greeted both teams in the morning session. While the slow nature of the pitch was evident in the afternoon session, it was expected to get slower on the second day of the Ashes 2015 opener.
Positive duo
Both Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad, the overnight pair, were positive from ball one. Broad was peppered with plenty of short stuff but he hung on, and ensured there were no early casualties. Ali on the other hand switched into brisk mode and started playing his shots.
Anything short was pulled, full was driven and going away was left alone, with ease. They added a brisk 52 runs and more importantly didn’t allow the visitors to make any early inroads. Before nicking a Nathan Lyon delivery to Brad Haddin behind the stumps, Broad lasted 53 deliveries and added crucial 18 runs to the team total.
Fluent Ali
The southpaw was in the zone this morning. His strokeplay on the off-side was delight to watch. He drove with elegance and found the gaps in the field with precision. Not the runs he scored, but the rate at which he scored them mattered for the hosts.
Ali’s 116-ball 77 was laced by 11 boundaries and one big hit over the fence. He stitched two crucial partnerships with Jos Buttler and Broad, and helped England cross the 400-run mark on Day 2.
Struggling Johnson
Twenty five overs, 111 runs and no wickets. It hasn’t been Mitchell Johnson’s match, so far.
The left-arm quick who relies heavily on the pace which the wicket generates was found wanting on this strip. Johnson kept pitching it short, trying to do what he did last summer – bounce the opposition out of the game.
He’s in for a hard time if the hosts continue to produce Cardiff-like wickets for the remaining Tests.
