Day 2 of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba might just be the day that could set the tone for how the rest of the series might pan out.
England came into the second day of the first Test with smiles on their faces and a feeling of contentment after their commendable first day's work, where they had reduced Australia to 273 for eight.
The Aussies were quickly bowled out for 295, with Brad Haddin narrowly missing a hundred in his 50th Test, and the stage was set for a pile-on-the-runs second day for England.
Well, Australia certainly did not read that script. The hosts, with terrific, stinging, fast short-pitch bowling crippled the England batting lineup, scuttling them out for a mere 136.
Mitchell Johnson (four for 61) was at his spearing, menacing best, while Ryan Harris (three for 28), Peter Siddle (one for 24) and Nathan Lyon (two for 17) did their jobs exemplarily as well.
"We had earned the right to be in that position, we had built up good pressure leading up to Nathan Lyon's two big breakthroughs [of Ina Bell and Matt Prior]," Haddin said.
"We stayed with the plans that worked, though we probably didn't start with the ball the way we would have liked, so at lunch 'Billy' [bowling coach Craig McDermott] let the bowlers know in no uncertain terms what was going wrong.
"We didn't put the ball quite where we would have liked at the start of the [England] innings, and I think we probably tried a bit too hard. It's good to have [Johnson] back in the team, and certainly to have one of those guys who can push the radar up around 150kph to rattle the other team. But it was Nathan Lyon who got things started today."
England, in a momentous collapse went from 55 for one to 110 for nine, before Stuart Broad, who had earlier in the day picked up another wicket to finish with figures of six for 81, smashed a couple to at least take the score to 136, giving Australia a lead of 159.
The Aussies had to negotiate 22 overs in the final session, and the openers - Chris Rogers (15 n.o.) and David Warner (45 n.o.) - did that easily enough, taking the home side to 65 for no loss at the close of play on day 2, with an overall lead of 224 runs.
Where to Watch Live
The third day of the first Test match is set for a 5.30 am IST start with live coverage on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD1. You can also live stream the match online by visiting the official website, Starsports.com. To catch the match by streaming live in the U.S., click HERE. For viewers who want to watch the match live online in the U.K., click HERE.
