Australia Eyes Ashes Victory as England Struggles in Adelaide

Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer fought hard for England with the bat, but with just two wickets remaining and 158 runs behind, they are staring at another disappointing result in the Ashes series.

England 213 for 8 (Stokes 45*, Brook 45, Archer 30*, Cummins 3-54, Boland 2-31, Lyon 2-51) trail Australia 371 (Carey 106, Khawaja 82, Archer 5-53) by 158 runs.

Australia has not officially retained the Ashes yet, but with England’s batting collapse once again, it seems more a matter of 'when' than 'if'. Stokes batted for more than four hours to end with a 45 out of 151 balls remaining undefeated, but was left alone as England collapsed around him. Australia won even without Steven Smith and Josh Hazlewood, although there was little heed to Stokes' appeal to fight by a deficit of 2-0.

Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, back in the XI, wasted no time making their mark. Cummins, playing for the first time since July, took 3 for 54, while Lyon added another 2 wickets to his tally. England did manage to keep Mitchell Starc wicketless for the first time in the series, but Australia’s lower order still added crucial runs to their overnight total.

Frustrations with Technology

Day 2 was also marred by controversy surrounding Snicko technology. The third umpire, Chris Gaffaney, upheld a caught-behind decision against Jamie Smith off Pat Cummins, despite Snicko evidence suggesting otherwise.

The earlier day saw similar issues when Alex Carey survived a caught-behind call. While the technology was again questioned, England’s real issue was their inability to capitalize on the opportunities, as their batting collapsed once more.

England’s Batting Collapse

England made a solid start, with Ben Duckett contributing well, though he was fortunate to survive early chances. Bowlers in Australia were much more disciplined, and Cummins quickly found a way through, and Zak Crawley was thrown out. Pope had no end to his misfortunes, and when he was caught, England was in trouble with the score of 42 at 3.

Joe Root, in poor form, was dismissed by Cummins for the 12th time in his Test career. Although Stokes and Harry Brookes developed a 56-run partnership, it was too late. Stokes went on to survive with Archer to form the second-longest partnership of the innings, but England remained more than 150 runs behind, and was now threatened with the disgrace of being left to bat last on a worsening pitch.

Pope’s Record Against Australia Worsens

Ollie Pope failed again cheaply against Australia, and his record against Australia remains poor. Cummins still retained the domineering hold of the key batter of England, Root, and the bowlers of Australia were ruining the list of visitors. Stokes and Brook had brief opposition, but the tide was now against Australia, and the hopes of England were disappointed.

Stokes’ Defiance Not Enough for England

Stokes, showing resilience, faced 35 balls before hitting his first boundary and then struggled to find the rhythm. The heat in Adelaide added to the challenge, and despite Stokes' determination, England’s batting line-up fell apart once more. His frustration was clear as Mitchell Starc hit several boundaries to extend Australia’s lead, and England were left with little hope of recovering in the face of Australia’s strength.