"Saturday night at the Gabba witnessed a collapse to rank among England's most demoralising on Australian soil. In fact the entire third day could be filed under that category: three sessions of one-way traffic on Vulture Street that mean the Ashes urn is unlikely to change hands. Even the word unlikely is a simple nod to the fact that in nearly 150 years of Test cricket a 2-0 deficit has been overcome once before; that it remains mathematically possible."
"And to think England's reply actually started well. For the six overs before the second interval Zak Crawley was sending the pink ball racing across the green outfield like he was Ronnie O'Sullivan, while Ben Duckett had got himself off a pair. Starc was a bit wayward, Michael Neser grassed a tough caught and bowled, and 45 runs were wiped off the deficit."
"First came Scott Boland exploiting some low bounce to bowl Duckett off the toe-end of his bat, then Neser rediscovering his grip with two sharp return catches to remove Ollie Pope, 23, and Zak Crawley, 44, on the drive. The moment the plug was truly yanked out was the wicket of Joe Root, however, and delivered by the man of the moment."
England collapsed at the Gabba on the third day, suffering three sessions of one-way traffic that leave the Ashes urn unlikely to change hands. Mitchell Starc dominated English batsmen and helped England concede a first-innings deficit of 177 runs, their reply stalling at 134 for six and still 43 runs short of making Australia bat again. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett began positively with quick runs, but Scott Boland exploited low bounce to dismiss Duckett and Michael Neser took two sharp catches to remove Ollie Pope and Crawley. Joe Root's wicket, taken by Mitchell Starc, sealed England's rapid collapse.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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