The Ashes: Crawley's fiery 189 puts England in commanding position

By  India Blooms News Service   Jul 21, 2023

Manchester/UNI: Zak Crawley notched up a deadly hundred and then stitched over 200-run stand with Joe Root to put England in complete control of proceedings on Day 2 of 4th Ashes Test at Old Trafford here on Thursday.

Australia looked at odds and looked completely out of sorts, but towards the end of the day, they were able to regain some sort of control after dismissing both Crawley and Root.

Crawley smashed 189 runs off 182 balls with 21 boundaries and three sixes. He was cleaned up by Cameron Green when England reached 336/3 in reply to Australias first innings score of 317 runs.

Ben Stokes (24) and Harry Brook (14) were content in playing within themselves for the last half-hour or so.

James Anderson (1/15) dismissed Pat Cummins off the very first delivery of the day, and England bundled Australias innings after they were able to add just 18 to their overnight total.

In reply, England were quite slow to start off with, they lost Ben Duckett (1) early and Crawley didnt look at his fluent best before lunch.

Moeen Ali, who was promoted to No.3, spent time to get the hold of the things. Things looked fairly even after the first session. But post-lunch, Crawley and Moeen fleeced Australias bowlers as they scored runs at the rate six per over.

Moeens (54 off 82) fall also did not restrict England as Root started off with just as much intensity. But Root was cleaned up for 84 in 95 balls with 8 boundaries and a six.