Red-hot Cook: England's opener celebrates another ton
Session one: England 89/1.
Resuming on 1 for 0, England lose captain Andrew Strauss early on as Doug Bollinger picks up his first Ashes wicket with the fourth ball of the day. But Jonathan Trott shows his nerve again coming in early in an innings and alongside Brisbane double centurion Alastair Cook the pair put on an unbeaten 87 going into lunch.
Verdict: England.
Session two: England 198/2.
Cook and Trott bring up their 100 partnership shortly after the lunch break and the pair then go on to both reach 50. On a boiling hot day, Australia toil in the field and their luck just isn’t in as Cook, on 64, has a caught behind dismissal off Peter Siddle overturned on appeal, the ball hitting the opener’s sleeve, not bat. They do get a breakthrough when Trott is caught on 78 by Michael Clarke off Ryan Harris, bringing to an end a 173-run stand. That brings Kevin Pietersen to the crease and he reaches 14 by tea after a jittery start.
Verdict: England.
Session three: England 317/2.
It’s more of the same as Australia are given the runaround. Cook reaches his 15thTest century and Pietersen gets his first 50 of the series. The pair add 141 runs as Cook ends the day unbeaten on 136 and Pietersen is closing in on his ton on 85 at stumps.
Verdict: England.
Test in a tweet: It’s a plunder Down Under for England’s batsmen who run an ordinary Aussie attack ragged on a sweltering day in Adelaide.
Who’ll we befriend on Facebook:Jonathan Trott.
The South African-born batsman came in with England in trouble on three for one but he did what all good No.3s should – scored runs at a decent rate and put on another big stand with Alastair Cook. This time it was 173 after the 329 the pair put on in Brisbane. Trott may not say much in press conferences but he does all his talking out in the middle.
And who’ll we’ll unfriend: Xavier Doherty.
The man they call X certainly doesn’t have the X-factor. He served up buffet bowling to Cook in the afternoon session and ended up wicketless. Surely Nathan Hauritz would be a better option for the remainder of the series.
Stat of the day: Channel Nine here in Australia showed Ricky Ponting’s resting heart rate to be 115 when he was in the field yesterday. An average person’s resting heart rate would be between 50 and 60 so the only conclusion is Punter’s feeling the pressure. That was borne out in the afternoon as it jumped up to 133 when Kevin Pietersen was batting.
Life in a lift: Today I took a ride with former England fast bowler Gladstone Small and the legend that is Shane Warne. I bet the Aussies wish they had him now.
Observation of the day: Australians streaming out of the Adelaide Oval over an hour before the scheduled close of play talking about possible rain over the next three days. Wasn’t that meant to be us?
Download of the day: Run (s) by Snow Patrol.