Cricket

What do you think is going to happen in this match?

I've been up since 4 a.m. to watch this match, lets go USA show 'em North America can Cricket

The Ashes are back! One of the most highly anticipated series in recent memory with Australia having just been crowned world champions, and England's "Bazball" strategy making headlines everywhere, and the first day of the series did not disappoint.

Zak Crawley showed that England were going to continue playing their aggressive brand of cricket with a cover drive for four on the very first ball of the day, but it didn't take long for Australia to get a small victory of their own with Ben Duckett getting caught behind in the fourth over just one ball after a perilous inside edge had just missed the stumps.

From there the teams traded blows in even pace for much of the first session, with Crawley showing uncharacteristic competence in a litany of drives through all parts of the ground, but Australia continuing to get regular wickets with Ollie Pope being given out LBW after a successful Australia review and Crawley eventually being scuppered by a caught behind after a beautiful delivery from Boland caught him out and struck him on the thumb on the up - although Australia again had to review to convince the umpires of this.

The second session started in Australia's favour, with the dangerous Harry ~~Brrok~~ Brook departing for just 32, and Ben Stokes throwing away his wicket chasing a wide one just a few minutes later, but again the needle swung the other way as England took control of the match with a 121 run partnership between Joe Root and Johnny Bairstow, making it safely to Tea and then continuing right where they left off after the interval.

Bairstow offered a chance to the Australians on 68*, getting a thick edge on a wide half volley from Hazlewood, but Alex Carey wasn't quite able to take the catch behind the stumps. It was far from an easy chance, requiring a full-length dive and outstretched arm, but he'll be disappointed to have put it down given that he did get a hand to it. Fortunately for Carey, the drop didn't cost much, as he was able to execute a stumping the next over after Lyon got one through the gate of a charging Bairstow.

From there it was business as usual for the next few overs with Moeen Ali getting stumped and Stuart Broad getting clean bowled for not too many. With Joe Root sitting on 93* and Jimmy Anderson seemingly having a clause in his contract stipulating that he never be required to bat, it rested on Ollie Robinson to last long enough to shepherd Root to his 30th Test century, which he indeed managed to do - his first century against Australia in 8 years.

After 77 overs a message from the England dressing room clearly went out to the middle, with Root and Robinson - who up until then were playing a relatively sedate style of cricket - suddenly hit Nathan Lyon for 20 runs off the over before making a shocking declaration at 393/8d, sending Australia in for the final four overs of the day.

The intent was clear: put Warner and Khawaja in early, and hope that the pressure of the situation and their poor records in the UK would allow England to gain a strong advantage in momentum going into the second day. It wasn't to be though, despite some confusion between the wickets in the first over, as the Australian openers survived the day's play.

All in all it was a closely-fought day's play. England had opportunities to run away with the match on the back of some strong partnerships, but every time they were threatening to do so Australia managed to pick up a couple of quick wickets to bring it back to even. The early declaration likely left some runs on the board for England, and the inability to capitalise on it with a wicket in the final moments of play may swing things in Australia's favour, but this is definitely still a very even Test match.

Many pundits were talking about how batting-friendly the pitch was, and bandying around par scores as high as 450, but as the old adage goes you should never judge a pitch until both teams have batted on it, and Australia's performance with the bat tomorrow will definitely inform whether England have done well to put up almost 400 runs, or if that declaration may come to haunt them; Australia certainly have no shortage of players who can post mammoth scores on a flat pitch.

In yesterday's post-day thread I said that this match was now pretty clearly heading in only one direction, and nothing has changed on that front. Bangladesh continued charging on with the bat, putting on 425/4 before declaring, with an unbeaten 121 for Mominul Haque, as well as Najmul Shanto registering twin tons with a 124 today to go with his 146 in the first innings. Zakir Hasan made up for a poor first innings with 71 in the second dig, but fell short of a century after being run out going for a third that wasn't really on.

With the declaration coming about halfway through the day's final session, Afghanistan had little to play for beyond pride with the 661-run target being insurmountable, especially after a first ball golden duck with Ibrahim Zadran being trapped in front LBW by a ball that was just on line with leg stump. Things didn't improve much with Abdul Malik getting caught for just 5 in the next over, and 3 overs laters Hashmatullah Shahidi retiring hurt after copping a Taskin Ahmed bouncer into the helmet.

Afghanistan end the day on 45/2, with it being unclear on if Hashmatullah can return to play tomorrow - so they may be effectively 3 wickets down. At this stage it's just a matter of when tomorrow the match will be wrapped up.

An improved batting lineup, greater bowling depth and a captain in his prime are aiming higher than the 2019 draw

Afghanistan got off to a great start today, dismissing Bangladesh's entire tail for just 20 runs in the space of the first 7 overs of the morning, with Nijat Masood notching up a 5-fer on debut in the process.

That great start was short-lived, however, with Afghanistan losing three wickets of their own before lunch, and ending up at 51/4 shortly after the interval. A decent 65-run partnership between Nasir Jamal and Afsar Zazai prevented the score from being too embarrassing, but after Jamal got trapped in front for LBW it was more of the same, with the visitors only notching up 146 runs in their first innings.

Now solidly in front of the game with the better part of a session left to play, Bangladesh put it beyond any doubt with a strong start to their second innings, ending the day at 134/1 with both Zakir Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto being on 54* at stumps, giving Bangladesh a 370 run lead. It's difficult to see how they could lose from here.

Afghanistan won the toss and chose to field, and got off to a fantastic start with Nijat Masood getting Zakir Hasan caught behind for just one run to start the second over of the day - although it did necessitate using a review to convince the umpires that there was indeed an edge.

That was the only good news for Afghanistan for almost two sessions however, as Mahmadul Hasan Joy and Najmul Hossain Shanto put on a formidable 212 run partnership for the second wicket, with Shanto scoring at almost a run a ball to put pressure on Afghanistan's inexperienced bowlers, sorely missing the skills of Rashid Khan.

Once Joy fell for 76 runs, Afghanistan got a bit of momentum back, strangling Mominul down the leg side just after tea (once again needing to go upstairs to get the decision!), then finally dismissing Shanto for an excellent 146 from 175 balls after he skied one to mid-wicket, and getting Litton Das cheaply not long afterwards thanks to a fantastic wrong-un from Zahir Khan drawing the edge to first slip.

Bangladesh held steady for the rest of the evening session, putting on an additional 72 runs before stumps to end the day at 362/5, with Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz at the crease on 41* and 43* respectively, and they appear to be in a fairly commanding position heading into Day 2, although Afghanistan can at least draw some confidence from their ability to claw themselves back into the game after the almighty partnership from Joy and Shanto seemed to put the match beyond reach by Tea on Day 1.

I went to create this magazine this morning while watching WTC final, and I was told the name was already taken. Clearly someone else knew we'd need a new home for /r/Cricket sooner or later.

India bowled out for 234 runs on the final day, chasing a target of 444, with none of their batters able to put up a half-century in the final innings.

Australia's victory was anchored by exceptional first-innings performances by Steve Smith (121) and Travis Head (163), and some very strong bowling by Nathan Lyon in the fourth innings, taking 4 for 41.

Ajinkya Rahane performed well for India, top-scoring in India's first innings with 89 and scoring 46 in the final dig, but it proved nowhere near enough as Australia win the second edition of the World Test Championship, leaving India empty-handed despite being the only nation to make every WTC Final so far.