England were given a shock as they lost two wickets in three overs as Australia took advantage of favourable bowling conditions on a rain-shortened day to wrest the momentum back on Day 3 of the series-opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston.
England were 28/2 in their second innings when rain stopped play on Sunday, with a lead of 35 runs, after Australia were bowled out for 386 on the stroke of lunch in reply to the hosts' first innings total of 393. Usman Khawaja finished on 141 for Australia, having registered his first Test century in England.
When play was first halted early in the second session, Zak Crawley was seven not out while Ben Duckett was on 18. But both openers departed in quick succession after the restart as Australia's fast bowlers found a good bit of movement in fast-fading light.
Tea was taken at 5 pm local time (9.30 pm IST) and with the conditions not getting any better for the game to resume, play was eventually called off for the day at 12 past six local time (10.42pm IST). With only 32.4 overs possible on Sunday, play will be extended for half-an-hour on both the remaining days of the Test.
Skipper Pat Cummins dismissed Duckett for 19 after Cameron Green pulled off a spectacular diving catch from the slip cordon, his second blinder in as many weeks after his involvement in the controversial dismissal of India opener Shubman Gill in the World Test Championship final at The Oval last Saturday.
Three balls later, Crawley (7) followed Duckett off the field after edging a Scott Boland delivery to wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Crawley took a few strides forward to counter the movement, but Boland out-smarted him.
With rain and overcast conditions making matters tougher for the batters, England's No.3 Ollie Pope and their first-innings centurion Joe Root, both yet to get off the mark, headed off gratefully when play was once again stopped.
That spell of bowling only reflected how menacing the Australian quicks could go on to be if conditions are seam-friendly. Particularly Boland, who looked as threatening as he was in the WTC final against India after going for runs in the first innings.
Earlier, Khawaja's marathon innings came to an end when he was bowled by Ollie Robinson late in Sunday's opening session. Australia, who resumed on 311 for five on a warm but overcast morning, lost both overnight batters Khawaja and Alex Carey before three more wickets fell in quick succession to end the visitors' first innings at 386.
Khawaja played with great composure for most part of his knock, showcasing his experience as he picked off the singles and kept the ship steady.
However, as England captain Ben Stokes piled on the pressure with an aggressive field placement comprising six catchers, Khawaja took the bait, charging down the wicket before Robinson's inch-perfect yorker uprooted his stumps.
James Anderson was denied Carey's wicket in the day's first over due to a Jonny Bairstow bungle. But an angling-in delivery from the veteran seamer cleaned up the Australian keeper-batter for 66, ending the latter's 118-run stand with Khawaja for the sixth wicket.
That was also Anderson's 1,100th first-class wicket.
Captain Cummins scored 38, hitting Moeen Ali for two sixes in an over before the off-spinner briefly left the field because of an injury in his spinning finger. That's one cause of concern for England going forward in the game.
Moeen had also been fined 25 per cent of his match fee by the ICC for breaching the code of conduct as he applied drying spray on his finger without the on-field umpires' permission.
Written with Reuters inputs
