"And while we're here, stand up, stand up, please do stand up if you love a two-day Test on a pitch as green and ridged as an under-ripe roasting potato. For an hour in mid-afternoon on day two at the MCG England's top order finally did the thing. The clocks stopped. Dogs miaowed. Birds flew backwards across the sky. And Test cricket turned into darts."
"As England's openers set off in pursuit of 175 to win this fourth Test at the midway point of a strange, restless day of fast-forward cricket, junk cricket, cricket off its meds, there was a sense of barriers dissolving, of a top order intent not just on playing the old favourites, but playing them all at the same time. Ben Duckett kicked things off with three fresh-air swipes in his first five balls."
England chased 175 at the MCG and openers attacked from the outset, producing a frenetic session of aggressive, unconventional batting. Ben Duckett played a chaotic 34 off 26 featuring wild swings, a crunch off Mitchell Starc, near misses, and eccentric ramps before being yorked. Zak Crawley struck a crisp six over long-off and the opening stand reached fifty in 6.5 overs. The crowd responded with pantomime roars to a forward defensive and revelled in the spectacle. Brydon Carse walked out at No 3 with more than a hundred still required, altering the batting order dynamic late in the chase.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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