Starc, Lyon shine for Australia as England suffer another batting collapse

England’s Ashes hopes continued to crumble on day three of the second Test in Adelaide as the visitors collapsed from 150 for two to 236-all-out to give Australia a first-innings lead of 237. Joe Root and Dawid Malan steadied the ship for England in the morning session with another excellent century partnership, but Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon combined for seven wickets to give the hosts an excellent chance of extending their series lead to 2-0.

In the afternoon session, Dawid Malan and Joe Root briefly raised English expectations as both batters continued their form from the opening Test in Brisbane, putting on 123 runs without losing a wicket. However, the visitors’ hopes were short-lived as Australia struck soon after the Tea break with Cameron Green dismissing the England captain for the second innings in a row.

The all-rounder continued to trouble Root in the channel outside off-stump and nicked him off to first slip on 63, making it the eighth time Root has made a Test half-century down under without reaching three figures. Root’s dismissal triggered a middle-order collapse for England, with Australia picking up four wickets for just 19 runs.

Dawid Malan missed out another century in Australia, slashing loosely at a ball that was too close to cut from Mitchell Starc and edging to Steve Smith at first slip. Ollie Pope followed soon after as Nathan Lyon exploited his frailties against spin, deceiving the Surrey batter in the flight and giving Marnus Labuschagne a sharp catch at short leg. Jos Buttler’s torrid time in Adeliade continued, following up his two dropped catches in the first innings with a 15-ball duck.

Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes offered some resistance at the crease, but Nathan Lyon returned to remove Woakes on 24 with a delivery that spun sharply and clattered into the stumps of the inside edge. Lyon added a third with the wicket of Ollie Robinson before Cameron Green ended Ben Stokes’ short-lived counter-attack in the 80^th over to expose England’s veteran duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad to the second new ball.

Jhye Richardson tested the tail-enders with a barrage of bouncers and Mitchell Starc eventually finished the innings with the wicket of Stuart Broad, his fourth of the innings and 50^th in pink-ball Tests. Having spent 84.3 overs in the field, Steve Smith afforded his bowlers some extra rest by opting not to enforce the follow on.

The Australian openers remained untroubled against the new ball, adding a 41-run stand and extending the lead to 282 before Warner was run-out due to a mix-up with Marcus Harris just before the close of play.