David Warner led Australia's reply with his 27th half-century before losing his wicket at the stroke of Tea on Day 2 of the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney. The Australian vice-captain hit 55 in the 85-run partnership for the second wicket with Usman Khawaja as the hosts seemed to be taking control of another session in the game before James Anderson's timely strike lifted England's spirits.
Stuart Broad gave his side just the perfect start by taking out Cameron Bancroft in his very first over. The Australian opener shaped up to drive a length ball that was coming in a tad, and was beaten on the inside edge. The ball snuck through the gap between Bancroft's bat and pad and crashed onto the stumps, giving Broad his 399th Test scalp.
Warner then led Australia's recovery with his fourth half-century of the series. England bowled with some zest after the early wicket but the Warner-Khawaja pair did well to negotiate the new-ball threat. The release point came in the third over of Tom Curran's brief spell. Warner, well settled by then, plucked three stunning boundaries in the space of four deliveries to move on to 30. Joe Root brought on spin from both ends but to no avail as Khawaja too grew in confidence.
Warner raised the fifty off the 89th ball he faced, but couldn't carry on for long. He was undone by a smart off-cutter from the most experienced English pacer, while Jonny Bairstow too did well behind the stumps to not let the faint edge slip away. Warner shook his head profusely on his way back, having missed out on his fourth successive hundred at the SCG in New Year's Test on Friday (January 5).
Steve Smith (3 not out) and Khawaja (36 not out) played out the remainder of 2.2 overs before Tea was called with Australia's scoreboard reading 96 for 2.
Earlier, Australia made a terrific start to the day by taking out Dawid Malan early into the session, only to be frustrated by the tail that wagged hard to give England a respectable 346. Tom Curran showed fight and built two useful partnerships - with Moeen Ali and Broad - to take England past the 300-run mark.
Malan could add only seven more to his overnight score before an unnecessary poke at a short of length delivery from Mitchell Starc cost him his wicket as Smith put in a full length dive to his left and plucked out a low catch barely inches above the ground. Smith's stunner was followed by a couple of reprieves - one each for Moeen and Curran in their early 20s - with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood making a hash of easy opportunities to dent England's innings further. What they got in lieu was a 43-run partnership that put England on the brink of the 300-run mark. Moeen's drop, though, didn't cost a lot of runs as Cummins got rid of the all-rounder on the other side of the drinks break. He produced an unplayable short ball and Moeen did not even have sufficient time to get out of the ball's way as it kissed the glove on its way to the keeper.
Broad and Curran took the attack to the opposition almost as soon as England went past 300. Broad toyed with Australia's field and pulled two of Cummins's short ones to the fence in the space of four deliveries. Curran flirted with danger for most part of his innings - hitting half a dozen boundaries playing mostly in the air rather than keeping it along the ground - the highlight of which was textbook pull off Mitchell Marsh.
But once the 41-run partnership was broken, by another one of Cummins special, England failed to add any substantial runs to their total thereafter. Curran offered full face of his bat in order to block a well-directed short ball from Cummins, but sent the ball straight into the hands of Bancroft at short leg. Broad tried slog-sweeping Lyon a couple of overs later but instead top-edged, only to be taken by a backtracking Smith. A reluctant run for a single from Mason Crane scripted the fall of the final wicket before the tourists could add anymore to their their score of 346.
Brief scores: Australia 96/2 (David Warner 56, Usman Khawaja 36*; James Anderson 1-11, Stuart Broad 1-18) trail England 346, by 250 runs.
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