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01/07 01:26 CST Jacob Bethell's first test century helps England push the fifth
Ashes match to Day 5
Jacob Bethell's first test century helps England push the fifth Ashes match to
Day 5
SYDNEY (AP) --- Jacob Bethell posted his first test century Wednesday and it
couldn't have come at a more crucial time for England, ensuring the fifth and
last Ashes test will be decided on Day 5 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The 22-year-old, Barbados-born allrounder went to the crease in the first over
of England's second innings when Mitchell Starc trapped Zac Crawley lbw on the
fifth ball.
He shared an 81-run second-wicket stand with Ben Duckett (42), 32 with Joe Root
(6), 102 with Harry Brook (42) and 45 with Jamie Smith (26) to help England
reach 302-8 at stumps on Day 4, a lead of 119 runs.
He finished 142 not out from 232 balls, helping England erase the 183-run
first-innings deficit and maintain a chance of winning back-to-back tests Down
Under. The Australians retained the Ashes with wins in the first three tests,
but England is determined to close the gap.
"It was special to get the milestone," Bethell said in a TV interview. "To have
the family over ... (and) to top it off with a hundred here is very special."
In just his sixth test, and second of this series, Bethell found a way to
survive while wickets tumbled around him as allrounder Beau Webster (3-51)
emerged as the unlikely star for Australia by taking three wickets with his
occasional offspin.
Webster swung momentum back for Australia with two wickets in three deliveries
in the 52nd over. He removed Brook, trapped lbw to a ball that turned sharply
out of the rough, and Will Jacks, inexcusably hitting out and caught in the
deep by a tumbling Cameron Green for a second-ball duck, as England slumped
from 219-3 to 219-5.
A crazy run out, first ball after the drinks break in the evening session, saw
Jamie Smith (26) sent back by Bethell and well out of his ground when Jake
Weatherald threw to Marnus Labuschagne to whip off the bails at the bowler's
end.
Bethell was 123 at the time, and England at 264-6, when his injured skipper Ben
Stokes went to the crease.
England added just three runs before Webster struck again, bowling around the
wicket and enticing Stokes (1) to cut a turning ball and Steve Smith taking a
sharp chance at slip.
Scott Boland returned to have Carse caught at slip, giving him two wickets for
the innings after the big lbw decision against Root.
Day 5 Webster's wickets may have a positive spinoff for England on a turning pitch. The Australians didn't take a specialist spinner into the match, instead relying on part-timers Travis Head and Webster, who also bowls medium pace. England has Bethel and Jacks to bowl spin, and possibly Root. Stokes injured England picked up Australia's last three first-innings wickets for 49 runs after the hosts resumed at 518-7 but the morning session was overshadowed by an injury to Stokes. He bowled 10 deliveries before leaving the field for treatment on a right adductor problem. He didn't move freely when he batted. Australia's innings Australia's commanding innings was built on centuries from stand-in opener Head, his third of the series, and Steve Smith (138) and a late contribution from allrounder Webster, who remained unbeaten on 71. The Australians will be pushing for victory to complete a 4-1 series win after retaining the Ashes in 11 days of action with wins in the first three tests. England is determined to narrow the margin after its drought-breaking win in the fourth test at Melbourne. Smith was 129 overnight but didn't settle into a rhythm before he was caught behind off Josh Tongue's bowling, ending a 107-run eighth-wicket partnership with Webster. The last two wickets fell within six deliveries, with Starc (5) bowled by a full delivery from Tongue that moved late off the seam and off-spinner Will Jacks (1-34) having Scott Boland caught for a first-ball duck at first slip. The century was Smith's 13th in Ashes tests, the 37th of his career and his fifth at the Sydney Cricket Ground. With it, he moved up to sixth on the all-time list of most test centuries. ___ AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket |
