Steve Smith and David Warner fall but Australia hold edge after day one of second Ashes Test
KEY POINTS
- Australia lose their two most influential batsmen on day one of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.
- However, England take a total of just four wickets after Joe Root elects to bowl first in day-night contest.
- After three rain delays, Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh guide hosts to 209-4 at stumps.
England's Craig Overton enjoyed a memorable start to his Test debut on Saturday (2 December) as Australia reached stumps on day one of a rain-affected second Ashes meeting at the Adelaide Oval on 209-4.
The Somerset all-rounder, called-up to the squad for the first-ever day-night Ashes clash as a replacement for Jake Ball, claimed a fantastic maiden scalp under the lights as he nipped the pink ball back off the pad of influential Australian captain Steve Smith and bowled the world's top-ranked batsman for 40.
Left-hander Usman Khawaja (53) had fallen just four balls after the extended interval, driving at a clever delivery from James Anderson and drawing an impressive low catch from James Vince at gully.
After Joe Root won the toss and became the first captain ever to opt to bowl first in a day-night Test, England's pacemen toiled early on before Chris Woakes made the breakthrough following a 90-minute rain delay, taking advantage of a disastrous mix-up with David Warner on the back of a Moeen Ali mis-field and running out Cameron Bancroft (10) with a direct hit.
He struck again after drinks, with Warner (47), who, along with Khawaja had helped the hosts recover from that early setback, three runs short his his half-century when he played at a ball outside off-stump and succeeded only in edging behind to wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow.
While the runs did not exactly flow fluently during a gritty end to a rather disjointed day, Peter Handscomb (36) and Shaun Marsh (20) steered Australia, seeking to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series after securing a 10-wicket win in Brisbane last weekend, past the 200-mark and ensured they held a slight advantage and that questions would be asked of Root's decision-making.
"I found out [I was playing] about an hour before the warm-up," Overton told BT Sport. "It was a nice chat with Rooty and then I just had to get my head down and focus on the day's play. Yeah, we were pretty happy to bowl first. There were clouds overhead and we felt we could get a few early ones.
"We felt we bowled pretty well all day but just didn't get the nicks we deserved. It was a bit unfortunate but we'll come back tomorrow, get a couple of early ones then we'll be on top. It was just a cross-seam ball [to get Smith out] and it skidded on a bit, which was nice, and beat him a little bit for pace."
