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Ashes 2019 Edgbaston Test, Day 2: England ride their luck to earn second-morning honours

Ashes 2019: There were significant scares for Rory Burns and Joe Root, but the pair shared an unbroken stand of 49 for England on the second morning.

By Opta
Rory Burns - cropped

Birmingham, Aug 2: England only lost one wicket on a tense second morning in the first Ashes Test, but Rory Burns and Joe Root survived major let-offs prior to lunch.

After resuming on 10 without loss in reply to Australia's 284 all out, which owed much to Steve Smith's spectacular 144, the hosts saw Jason Roy depart for 10 but avoided any further setbacks as they battled to 71-1.

Australia could feel somewhat hard done by, however, given Burns should have been adjudged lbw for 22 and England captain Root had a lucky escape on nine when a delivery from James Pattinson clipped his off stump but failed to dislodge a bail.

At the interval, Burns was unbeaten on 41, having played some attractive strokes in an encouraging innings, while the ultra-cautious Root had 11 to his name from 57 balls in his first innings since moving back to number three.

Pattinson, playing his first Test since February 2016 after a horrendous run of injury problems, was comfortably the pick of Australia's pacemen on Friday morning and twice found Roy's edge before having the opener caught by Smith at second slip.

Burns looked far more comfortable than his Surrey team-mate, although his progress was not entirely assured.

The left-hander took a glancing blow to the helmet from Pat Cummins and was then fortunate to survive when an appeal for lbw from Nathan Lyon, who found plenty of early turn, was turned down and Australia failed to call for a review despite Hawk-Eye showing the ball would have crashed into leg stump.

Root was then given out caught behind off the impressive Pattinson, but he reviewed successfully as it became apparent the ball had brushed off stump rather than his bat.

Story first published: Friday, August 2, 2019, 18:21 [IST]
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