With the second day of the first Test between Australia and England running smoothly, Joe Root and his men are in the driver’s seat. After putting up a gutsy 302 runs on the scoreboard, the Englishmen have troubled the Australians with their bowling too.
Rattling the Aussie top-order with ease, England has forced the Aussies into a tricky situation early into the 1st Test at the Gabba.
Iconic former England international Kevin Pietersen is impressed with the performance of the Three Lions. The stylish right-hander was all praise for the freshers in the English squad, all of whom managed to get past the 50-run mark. James Vince was the highest scorer in the English side with his composed knock of 83 in his Ashes debut.
Mark Stoneman made his debut Ashes count too with a 53-run knock of his own. Dawid Malan pitched in with his 56-run inning and provided stability to the middle-order which guided England past the 300-run mark.
“I actually think England played okay. Some of the youngsters played really well and really surprised me actually,” said Pietersen, the former England captain.
“Stoneman was brilliant, Vince was brilliant, Malan was exceptional. So I think there are good signs for what’s to come over the next few Test matches,” he added.
“The key was how calm they were; I loved how calm they batted.” ‘Steve Smith was very slow in going to plan B and C,” he said. “He stuck with the traditional way of getting wickets here at the Gabba.”
However, the Aussies find themselves in trouble at home right now having lost four wickets under the 100-run mark. The dangerous David Warner is back to the pavilion, though skipper Steve Smith looks solid at the crease. With three days of action still left, the game is far from over.
(Ashes 2017/18: Watch – David Warner Takes a Stunner at Leg-Gully to Send Back Jake Ball)