Adelaide, December 18, 2025: A collective bowling performance, spearheaded by Australia captain Pat Cummins, left England reeling on the second day of the third Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
At stumps, the tourists were 213/8, trailing Australia by 158 runs with just two wickets remaining. England captain Ben Stokes and No.10 batter Jofra Archer, unbeaten on 45 and 30 respectively, will resume their innings on the third day.
England’s innings began steadily, with openers Zak Crawley (9) and Ben Duckett putting together a 37-run partnership before Cummins struck to remove Crawley caught behind. Spinner Nathan Lyon then struck twice in the 10th over, dismissing Ollie Pope (3) and Duckett (29), reducing England to 42/3.
Joe Root (19) fell in the 17th over to Cummins, bringing the visitors to 71/4. A brief resistance came from Harry Brook and Stokes, who added 56 runs for the fifth wicket before Brook’s dismissal by Cameron Green. Brook top-scored with 45 off 63 balls, including two fours and a six. Stokes then shared a 32-run partnership with Jamie Smith (22) for the sixth wicket, before further setbacks reduced England to 168/8. Stokes and Archer’s unbeaten 45-run stand for the ninth wicket provided some resistance.
Cummins led Australia’s attack with 3 wickets, supported by Scott Boland and Lyon with two wickets each, and Cameron Green contributing one.
Earlier on day two, Australia resumed from 326/8 in their first innings, adding 45 more runs thanks to a half-century from Mitchell Starc, who scored 54 off 75 balls with nine boundaries. Starc also claimed a five-wicket haul, highlighting a dominant bowling performance.
For England, apart from Archer, Brydon Carse and Will Jacks took two wickets each, while Josh Tongue claimed one. Australia’s strong bowling display has put the hosts in a commanding position heading into day three.
