England and Australia got underway at Adelaide Oval in the first of two day-night Tests that will be held in this series. Having lost the opening fixture by a huge margin, England were off to a bitter start again after Australia had won the toss and decided to bat first.
Marcus Harris departing early in the game was perhaps the only moment of joy for the visiting unit, who otherwise had a torrid day. David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne hung in the middle strongly to deny any further breakthroughs despite the Broad-Anderson duo threatening to add further depletions.It took Warner 35 deliveries to get his first boundary, and the likes of Ollie Robinson and Ben Stokes added pressure as well.
Australia managed just 45 runs in the first session but did well to not lose further wickets. Warner cut loose in the second session, starting to take his chances against the wider deliveries and added some much-needed boundaries. Labuschagne lived his life dangerously, with plenty of balls leaving the outside edge and was dropped by Buttler.
Joe Root was brought to the attack to entice a false shot, but Warner kept accelerating. He took on Stokes and found the gaps regularly, bringing up his half-century with a pull shot finding the gap between two deep fielders. Labuschagne laboured for every run he scored and got to his fifty just before the end of the second session, off 156 deliveries.
The English bowlers missed their length quite regularly in the third session, and the well-set duo did not let any opportunity go by. The duo started scoring at four an over, adding 46 runs in the first 11 overs of the final session. The 35-year-old opener, who missed out on a hundred last time around, once again fell short, smashing a short delivery straight to covers, where Broad took a decent catch.
Their partnership accounted for 172 runs, and helped the hosts see off an incredibly tricky phase of play. Skipper Steve Smith accompanied Labuschagne for the last 25 overs of the day, and there was palpable caution among both cricketers unless the English bowlers were going short.
The 27-year-old was struggling to work his way out in the 90s, and James Anderson managed to get the better of him, inducing an outside edge. However, Jos Buttler had dropped him once again in the game, this time an even simpler catch, to let the momentum slide away further.
England failed to strike with the second new ball with fortune not working in tandem, as Australia finished with 221 runs in 89 overs at the end of the day, for the loss of two wickets. Steve Smith remained unbeaten on 18, whilst Labuschagne will continue his quest for a sixth Test hundred and requires just five more runs to get there on Friday morning.
Brief scores
Australia 1st innings: 221/2 in 89 overs (Warner 95, Labuschagne 95*; Broad 1/34)
