Australia 5-222 (Chris Rogers 101*, Shane Watson 68, Stuart Broad 4-48) trails England 238 (Alastair Cook 51, Jonathan Trott 49, Nathan Lyon 4-42) by 16 runs.
Chris Rogers plundered a maiden Test century in his fifth Test while Shane Watson assisted him well with a fifty as Australia commanded the 4th Test vs. England.
England managed 238 runs after 92 overs before they were bowled out in their first innings and Australia piled up 222 runs for the loss of just five wickets.
The second day’s play of the 4th Investec Test came to an end on Saturday, August 10, 2013, at riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street.
Earlier the hosts started the day at 9-238 in 90 overs whereas Tim Bresnan and James Anderson were at the crease for 12 and 16 runs. The latter was clean bowled by Jackson Bird on the last ball of the 92nd over without disturbing the scorer in the morning.
Nathan Lyon was the highest wicket taker with four, Ryan Harris and Jackson Bird held two each whereas Shane Watson and Peter Siddle shared one wicket each.
The Kangaroos had an awkward beginning when Stuart Broad got rid of their two top order batsmen, David Warner and Usman Khawaja for 3 and 0 runs. The Australian skipper, Michael Clarke, joined in with the opener Chris Rogers and tried to mend the early loss. The latter hit two consecutive fours in the 7th over and survived a review at 16 taken by the rival skipper, Alastair Cook on the fourth ball of the 8th one. Rogers was given caught behind two runs later by the field umpire and the decision was upheld by the third umpire on the review claimed by the batsman.
The duo reached 49 in 13 overs when Clarke was caught by Cook at slip off Broad again for 6 and was replaced by Steven Smith. The batsmen added five boundaries in the coming overs and took the score to 76 in 22.4 overs as Smith was caught behind by Matt Prior off Tim Bresnan for 17 runs. Shane Watson walked in next and was dropped at five runs by Bresnan off his own bowling. Chris Rogers attained his fifty on the last ball of the 28th over as Watson kept on securing his end without taking any further risk.
Shane Watson hit 5 fours in the coming overs while the Aussies went for the tea break at 4-148 after 48 overs whereas Rogers and Watson were going great at 71 and 38 runs respectively. The pair got off nicely and started from where they left before the interval and Shane Watson reached his 20th Test fifty in the 57th over. Rogers kept on cruising at his end and the hundred runs partnership for the fifth wicket was witnessed in the 59th over. The second hundred of the innings was illuminated on the screen with a four from Chris Rogers and the score was taken to 203 after the 66th over. Watson was batting at 66 and Rogers required another four runs for his hundred as the batsmen went back to their shells unnecessarily.
Watson was caught behind by Prior off Broad for 68 off 134 with 7 fours as the score touched 205. Brad Haddin got together next with Chris Rogers who smashed his first Test hundred with a four in the 72nd over. He remained unbeaten at 101 off 233 deliveries comprising 13 fours and Haddin was at the other end for 12 as the Knagaroos thrashed 5-222 in 74.4 overs when the play was called off due to bad light.
Stuart Broad was the highest wicket taker as he grabbed four whereas Tim Bresnan claimed one.
Australia is just 16 runs away from the first innings total of England with five wickets still in hand and a lead of 100-150 runs can put the visitors on top.
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