Siddle and Harris give Australia 2-0 lead

Australia 9 for 570 dec (Clarke 148, Haddin 118, Broad 3-98) and 3 for 132 dec (Warner 83*) beat England 172 (Bell 72*, Carberry 60, Johnson 7-40) and 312 (Root 87, Prior 69, Siddle 4-57, Harris 3-54) by 218 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Australia took a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series, with three to play as they inflicted a 218-run defeat on England in the Adelaide Test to follow up their overwhelming 381-run win in the opening match in Brisbane.

It took Australia only 11.4 overs to remove England's last four wickets for the addition of a further 65 runs after light morning rain, which delayed the start by 10 minutes, cleared and the Test was completed with floodlights piercing the gloom.

England's one consolation was a return to form for Matt Prior, albeit in insignificant circumstances. Prior, 31 not out overnight, was ninth out for 69 from 110 balls, the first time he had passed 50 in 17 attempts, a sequence stretching back to his match-saving century against New Zealand in Auckland in March. It will probably be enough to protect his place in Perth.

Prior pulled with gusto, but the shot also proved his downfall as he deposited Peter Siddle into the hands of Ryan Harris at deep square. It was a bountiful morning for Siddle and Harris, who had toiled away impressively on the fourth day, but who did not have to extend themselves unduly to round things up with two wickets apiece on the final morning.

Siddle and Harris took seven wickets between them. That should not alter the salient fact: Mitchell Johnson might not be the only reason for the shift in power, but he has been the overriding reason.

Australia, after seven defeats in nine, have now won two Tests on the bounce; England, unbeaten in 13 before this series, have been heavily beaten in both. Under the coaching influence of Darren Lehmann, Australia are playing positive cricket, fielding tigerishly and their bowling plans are working. England look weary and disorientated, a team which has so far failed to challenge the notion that it is in decline.

No England team has ever come back from 2-0 down to win a series in Australia, the one thing in England's favour being that they only need to draw the series to retain the Ashes.

But England will be particularly unsettled by the fact that they have lost so heavily in Adelaide where a dry pitch of comfortable pace bore a similarity to surfaces on which they have achieved many recent victories and offered arguably their best opportunity of the series.

Adelaide's first drop-in pitch displayed the ground's traditional characteristics, offering more spin as the match progressed, and will have delighted the curator Damien Hough.

Alastair Cook said three times at the post-match ceremony that England need to "look at ourselves". It will be the mantra ahead of Perth. He said: "We had a few opportunities on that first day to put pressure on that first day and we missed them. Mitchell Johnson has bowled well and quickly and we have to look at ourselves, our techniques and our shot selection."

Michael Clarke, Australia's captain, admitted that he had been unsettled when he drew back the curtains to see rain falling. He said: "The last thing we wanted was rain today - and I guess not enforcing the follow-on made me a little more nervous. I thought our bowlers could do with a rest and come out fresh in the second innings.

"We have to be realistic: that is only our second Test win in [11] months and that is not good enough if we want to be the No 1 Test side in the world - and that is our goal."

Johnson, man of the match after his first-innings 7 for 40, can now look forward to what is routinely viewed as his banker: the WACA. He said: "I'm really excited about being back in this team." He confirmed the mo stays on for the rest of the series.

Once the skies cleared so quickly, England's cause was hopeless: 304 runs short of victory with only four wickets remaining. They played as if they knew it.

Quite what Stuart Broad was up to, only he knew. Five balls into the day, he became the third England batsman to perish to the hook shot. Siddle fired in two short balls in his first over of the day. The first, a lackadaisical affair, was pulled by Broad for six. The next ball was quicker and shoulder height and Broad hooked it into the hands of Nathan Lyon at deep square.

Harris, delayed until first change, was also presented with a wicket in his first over as Graeme Swann dangled his bat at a wide one, which moved away slightly, and presented a comfortable catch to second slip. His second wicket of the morning, Panesar driving feebly to short extra, completed the job.


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'We're nowhere near the No. 1 team in the world' - de Villiers

Beat the No. 1 side by 141 runs. Beat them again by 134. In the first game, put them under a mountain of runs and straitjacket them with exceptional quick bowling. In the next, watch the same batsmen capitulate through low-percentage shots. This tour has all the makings of being to South Africa what the West Indies series was to India in November. And never mind what Dale Steyn feels, South Africa's elder statesmen are not getting ahead of themselves. AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla both laughed heartily when asked if this Indian team was proving to be too easy, but they wouldn't get drawn into making what could be seen as inappropriate statements that might come back to bite them later.

De Villiers was at pains to not be seen as arrogant when ahead. When asked if it was becoming a bit easy, because it felt so from the outside, de Villiers repeated the "no" five times.

"They are a world-class unit," de Villiers said. "They are world champions. I can go for an hour if I talk about the Indian team. [I] still expect them to come back in the third ODI. A lot of pride to play for. It will be massive for us to beat them 3-0. A lot to play for. They are still a world-class unit. We will always have respect for them as a team."

After his press conference, de Villiers moved to the right, and gave unassuming Hashim Amla the seat in front of the microphones. Now Amla and Quinton de Kock have added more than 150 in back-to-back games against India's bowling, becoming only the second pair in ODIs to do so. At times in the Durban ODI, it looked like they were not tested at all. Like de Villiers, Amla, too, was asked if the Indian bowling was "easy meat" for the openers.

Amla let out a loud laugh and said, "You want such a controversial thing for me to say."

After everyone had had their laughs and drawn their own inferences, Amla went on to say: "Nothing at all like that. Fortunately for me and Quinny [de Kock] - to score runs you need things to go your way. In both games, we could have got caught with leading edges, caught third man… Things have just gone our way in the last two games. India have bowled well upfront. We haven't gone off to blistering starts, just knocked it around a bit and bided our time. In the first game, AB and JP [Duminy] were the guys who did a bulk of the damage at the back end. Before that, they had bowled quite well. So there is no such thing as easy meat. We have fortunately got things going our way."

Having said that, de Villiers was pretty pleased his side had beaten the No. 1 side in ODIs so comprehensively in successive matches.

"We are nowhere near the No. 1 team in the world at the moment even though we have beaten them two in a row now," de Villiers said. "We know tournaments like the World Cup, they are about 11 games, this is just two in a row. It's definitely a step in the right direction, but in a humble way we would like to work hard on our game and make sure we still compete with the best in the world consistently."

Steyn's remarks that a few of the Indian batsmen might have been scared were still being talked about, but de Villiers also said that his batsmen have been setting up the games. He was "chuffed" that his lower order got him crucial runs in this match - especially the 29 in the last two overs - that turned a total just over par into a superlative one. Especially given South Africa's bowling, which now seems to have established a hold on the Indian batsmen.

"Hopefully, we did scare off a few of their batters going into the final ODI and the Test series," de Villiers said. "It's always nice to sort of scare a few batters going into a big series like this, especially a batting line-up like the Indian team has. I think they are very talented and to sort of get under their skin is always important, especially in home conditions."


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Top-order failures creating pressure - Dhoni

Cullinan: India not playing like a No. 1 team

MS Dhoni was satisfied by how his bowlers made a comeback from the pasting in Johannesburg and in the first half of this match, but his batsmen left him disappointed this time. And before you realise, the series is already gone.

India's bowlers leaked 358 at the Wanderers but performed relatively better at Kingsmead to keep South Africa to 280 for 6, after the openers had added 194 in 35 overs.

"If you talk about this particular game, I think the kind of shots we played, a few of them were on, but the execution was not great to some extent as they went to the fielders," Dhoni said. "But compared to the last game, the bowlers did a fantastic job, especially in the middle overs. Overall, I was very happy with the bowling performance because 280 on this wicket was decent. The wicket was on the flatter side, there wasn't much for the fast bowlers, but I was disappointed with the batting."

When asked about the short ball - Ajinkya Rahane was stuck against the bouncers from Dale Steyn and a couple of batsmen fell to short deliveries - Dhoni said there was no such weakness. "I don't think it was the short ball," Dhoni said. "It was more to do with shot selection, the shot execution. This wicket was on the flatter side, and pace was down for the fast bowlers.

"Also when we go outside people talk about the short-pitched bowling, because they know in the subcontinent we are not really used to this kind of bowling, but what we have seen is that you play a few shots and it pays off, then the opposition are in trouble as to where they need to bowl, and that's what really happened in the Champions Trophy. Also at times, when you play those big shots and it doesn't pay off and you end up losing quite a few wickets. That is something we will have to accept because it becomes part and parcel of cricket."

Dhoni said this performance is a one-off. "Well you can consider this as a one-off series," Dhoni said. "Yes we didn't bat really well but it can happen. Especially when you come outside and you see that the middle order is not performing, you may get a bit exposed if you lose early wickets at the top. [In] the last few series our middle order to some extent was a bit of a bother. In this series we lost the top three maybe quite early and our middle order was exposed to some extent. So if you assess that, maybe because of that we haven't been able to perform to our potential, especially in the batting department."

Dhoni said his team still stood a chance to salvage this tour. "It is part and parcel of any series that you play," Dhoni said. "You win quite a few and you lose quite a few. What's important is that you keep learning, and the bowlers learnt from the first game and bowled better in this game. I think as a batting unit also we need to learn quite a few things, and keep going onto the field."


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West Indies U-19s withdrawn from Bangladesh tour

The West Indies Cricket Board has withdrawn its Under-19 team from the ongoing tour of Bangladesh, following an explosion near the team hotel in Chittagong on Saturday. A WICB statement confirmed the decision early on Monday morning, as they looked to ship the team out of Chittagong at the earliest.

"The WICB's decision [to withdraw the team] was taken following consideration of a report on the situation in Bangladesh as prepared by WICB security manager Paul Slowe," the statement said. "The report emphasised that the current security environment in Bangladesh is not conducive to the playing of cricket in light of the 72 hours nationwide blockade and calls for countrywide dawn-to-dusk protest. The State Department of the United States of America has also issued a travel alert to its citizens living in and travelling to Bangladesh.

"Travel arrangements are being made to allow for the team's return to the Caribbean as quickly as possible. The team will remain safely accommodated at the team hotel under adequate security protection until departure from Bangladesh."

On Sunday, following the assurance of "reinforced" security from the Bangladesh Cricket Board, the WICB had said the team was "not targeted and was not in any immediate danger", but it was working with the Bangladesh board, contacting the players' parents, and would provide an update on the situation if necessary.

The second match of the ODI series, scheduled to take place on Sunday, was postponed to Monday, following the incident near the hotel. West Indies had lost the first game, but were scheduled to play seven matches in all in the series.

The pullout is a blow to Bangladesh's immediate future as host of the 2014 World Twenty20s to be held in March. The BCB had only just turned the corner in confirming Sylhet as a prepared venue after much speculation about its completion.

Bangladesh's general elections are scheduled to take place on January 5, and there has been continued violence across the country. The intensity has risen since October with numerous political strikes and blockades.

The New Zealand team canceled one training session during their tour in October when Bangladesh's main opposition party called a strike. The tour, however, went through as cricket is usually kept out of the jurisdiction of any political action.

The ICC and the BCB are yet to make a statement on the issue.


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Bowlers help Rocks clinch low-scorer

A combined bowling performance helped Southern Rocks defend a meagre 140 against Matabeleland Tuskers in the opening day of Zimbabwe's domestic season, in Masvingo. The Tuskers failed to put on decent partnerships and were struggling at one stage at 70 for 5, dented by strikes by Tinashe Panyangara and Trevor Garwe. A 42-run stand for the sixth wicket between Tawanda Mupariwa and Bradley Staddon helped the Tuskers recover, but timely strikes by the offspinner Roy Kaia brought Rocks back into the game. There was no fight left in the Tuskers and they folded for 129. Rocks, after being put in to bat, started steadily, moving to 80 for 2 before they too collapsed. Richard Mutumbami resisted with 45 but he and the rest succumbed to the seam duo of Mupariwa and Christopher Mpofu, who shared seven wickets between them.

In another low-scoring game, at the Harare Sports Club, Mashonaland Eagles chased 119 to beat Mid West Rhinos by three wickets. The Eagles were on track at 54 for 1 at the chase but lost their way when three wickets fell for 14 runs. Chamu Chibhabha held the chase together with a patient 43 off 110 balls before he was dismissed by Mkhululi Nyathi, with his side needing a further 21. Joylord Gumbie steered his side home with an unbeaten 25. After being put in to bat, the Rhinos never recovered properly from their top-order collapse. Most of the damage was done by the right-arm seamer Admire Manyumwa, who reduced the Rhinos to 37 for 6. Neville Madziva and Nyathi resisted to take the score past 100, but the Rhinos were bowled out with seven overs to spare.


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Big wins for Peshawar, Karachi Whites

Group I

An all-round performance from Azam Khan gave Peshawar their first win of the tournament when they beat Karachi Blues by 118 runs at home.

Peshawar were reeling at 118 for 9 after being asked to bat but Azam, at No. 10, first top-scored with 69 to take them to 213 and then took four wickets to restrict Karachi to 115. Peshawar's second innings was led by a 49 from Jibran Khan as they were rattled by a six-wicket haul from medium-pacer Waqar Anwar, which curbed their score to 167 and set Karachi a target of 266.

Karachi lost their first three wickets for six runs and never recovered much from there as they were kept to 147 by a collective bowling effort from Azam, Jibran, Afaq Ahmed and Iftikhar Ahmed. Peshawar are now third in Group I, one place behind Karachi.

Group II

Karachi Whites registered their third win in four matches to lead the Group II table after they thrashed Hyderabad by an innings and 42 runs at the National Stadium. Karachi chose to bat and put on a strong total of 392 on the back of fifties from their top-order batsmen Fazal Subhan (50), Hamza Ghanchi (74) and captain Asif Zakir (88). Only Wajid Ali (44) scored from the middle order and their score was stretched from 317 for 8 to 392 with an unbeaten knock of 51 from No. 10 Faheem Ahmed.

Left-arm pacer Mir Hamza dismissed Hyderabad's openers and struck again later to not let the visitors' batsmen settle down. With the help of all the other bowlers, who picked up at least a wicket each, Hyderabad were restricted to 174 and were made to follow-on as Hamza finished with 4 for 65.

Hyderabad's second attempt didn't differ much as they scored 176 this time and were rocked by Khurram Shahzad's five-for. Zeeshan Gul (42), Faisal Athar (47) and Mohammad Shehbaz (32) resisted briefly but could not avoid the big loss as Zakir (3 for 2) and Hamza (2 for 54) also chipped in to complete the win within three days.


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Pakistan U-19s restrict UAE U-19s to claim opening win

Pakistan Under-19s 253 for 7 (Imam-ul-Haq 60, Aslam 56) beat UAE Under-19s 227 for 8 (Vijayakumar 51) by 26 runs
Scorecard

Pakistan Under-19s pulled of a 26-run win against UAE Under-19s in the opening game of the youth tri-series, which also involved England Under-19s, in the UAE.

Pakistan's win was built around a solid team performance, with all their top order making contributions. No one could kick on to a big score, though their top seven all got into double digits, but the series of cameos was enough to push the team over 250. The best period for Pakistan with the bat came when opener and captain Sami Aslam was batting with No. 3 Imam-ul-Haq, the pair putting on 81 together - they were the only two to get past the 50-run mark in the innings. Pakistan's bowler too shared the workload around - three bowlers picked up two wickets each, as UAE's scoring was restricted.

That said, UAE actually began well in the chase, with openers Chirag Suri and Shivank Vijayakumar laying a platform of 80 in 22 overs. Once Suri was out, Pakistan struck with quick regularity to reduce the hosts to 185 for 8. Their scoring-rate had fallen so far behind by then, that a feisty, unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 42 in 34 balls between Nos. 9 and 10, Pankaj Prakash and Mavuru Aditya, was not enough to get them home.


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England lose openers after Clarke declares

Lunch England 172 and 2 for 65 (Root 29*, Pietersen 18*) need another 466 runs to beat Australia 9 for 570 dec and 3 for 132 dec
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

England awoke to headlines proclaiming that they were so spooked by Mitchell Johnson that another 5-0 whitewash could be on the cards. It was time for a captain to stand up and be counted. Alastair Cook did just that - and it all went horribly awry.

Cook's decision to hook the third ball he faced from Johnson - a head-high bouncer designed to clear sleep from the eyes - was appropriate enough for old batsmen who believed in fighting fire with fire, the former Australian captain Ian Chappell among them, but others looked on in disbelief as Cook's top edge was efficiently held by Ryan Harris at fine leg.

Cook is a good hooker, and it was Cook whose example three years ago was the prime source of England's Ashes win in Australia. But what was certain was that as an attempt to stifle Johnson's terror, his response had failed in its execution.

To add to England's misery, Michael Carberry followed in similar fashion in the 12th over when a composed innings ended as he whipped a short ball from Peter Siddle off his hip and this time picked out Nathan Lyon at long leg.

Johnson's 7 for 40 on a sunlit Adelaide Saturday had been the best return by an Ashes fast bowler in Adelaide, a ground where batsmen have normally dominated and a fast bowler's boots fill with blood. The shock still lingered on Sunday morning for England's travelling band of supporters, many of whom were still staring blankly at their breakfast burgers when they heard that their captain had been dismissed a second time.

It all bore little resemblance to the statistics which preceded this series: England unbeaten in 13 Tests, Australia with seven defeats in nine. But the only way in which England could bring such statistics into play was to see off Johnson's short, violent spells, and turn the match into 11-a-side. The side which has talked sternly of its need to make 400-plus totals again has not even managed 200 in three attempts.

Patience was perhaps even more demanded considering a weather forecast which did not rule out afternoon storms and which influenced Michael Clarke's decision to declare Australia's total overnight, with a lead of 530, 15 minutes before the start of play.

Kevin Pietersen and Joe Root did add some stability. Root's place at No.3, in preference to Ian Bell, has been questioned, but if some England players really have been spooked by Johnson, Root is not among them. Beneath that boyish grin is a batsman of mental toughness. He settled for five runs from 34 balls, the hook shot not even entering his consciousness, before a full toss from the offspinner Nathan Lyon helped him on his way.

Johnson's first spell had been limited to three overs: Cook removed and not a run conceded. He had a second spell of three overs before lunch, but it was perhaps his least threatening spell of the series. Root, who steered him behind point for a boundary, imagined that he might find benefit from his patience.

Pietersen also bore his responsibilities seriously up to lunch. Australia goaded him with two short midwickets again, but this time there was no attempt to take up the challenge as he played religiously straight.


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Smith's ODI career seemingly on the wane

Form and injury have combined to give Graeme Smith a forgettable time of late in the one-day game, and it looks like it will be a long road back for him in ODI cricket should he choose to keep at it

Cullinan: Smith certainly under pressure in ODIs

Graeme Smith's ODI career could be over.

The Test captain was left out of South Africa's starting XI for the first match against India in Johannesburg - the first time Smith has been overlooked for strategic reasons rather than injury since relinquishing the 50-overs captaincy after the 2011 World Cup - and the move could signal the end of Smith in coloured clothing.

Smith has not scored an ODI half-century in eight innings, all against Pakistan. His last contribution of significance came in January's home series against New Zealand, when he scored 116 in the only match South Africa won. Before that series, in which Smith also notched up a half-century, Smith had scored one hundred and two fifties in 10 innings in 2012, and there were constant questions over whether he merited a place in the one-day team.

De Villiers admitted that this time, against India, there "just wasn't a spot open" for Smith, in what is the clearest indication yet that the combination of patchy form and niggles may catching up with Smith, especially as he has been more out than in in South Africa's ODI team recently. Smith missed the Champions Trophy and South Africa's limited-overs tour to Sri Lanka this year with injury, which unsettled the XI which was also without Jacques Kallis.

South Africa went through a painful process of trying to find an opening combination that could match the Smith/Hashim Amla partnership - which in 48 innings averages 41.40 - but could not. Colin Ingram and Hashim Amla managed two half-century stands in four attempts at the Champions Trophy but when Amla was injured for the early stages of the Sri Lanka tour, Ingram unraveled.

He partnered Alviro Petersen without success for a game, then Quinton de Kock was used with Petersen, and then Amla joined de Kock. These two showed promise as a pair with a stand of 87 in the UAE but it was still considered a given that when both Smith and Amla were available again, they would be reunited to provide stability.

They did play the first two ODIs against Pakistan at home together, and scored 12 and 9. Smith was unavailable for the third because of the passing of his grandmother, so de Kock was promoted up the order - he had been batting at No. 3 when Smith and Amla formed the opening pair - to rejoin Amla. They posted 39.

So when it came to a green-top in Johannesburg for the opening game of a series against India, South Africa were faced with a tough choice. They wanted to play the extra seamer so they had to leave a batsman out and that batsman was Smith. "I wanted to play an extra bowler so there just wasn't a space open for him," de Villiers explained.

Statistical evidence in favour of the Amla/de Kock pairing is based on too small a sample for it to top the Amla/Smith pairing but the numbers are pointing in the right direction. In eight innings, Amla and de Kock have opened together they have posted 453 runs at 50.33, with one century and two fifty-stands, including South Africa's first opening partnership of more than 100 runs since 2010. More than the numbers, it's the way Amla and de Kock combine that has left the team management keen for them to bat together - as they also do so in T20s.

"There's experience of Hash and the elegance, and then the no-fear attitude of Quinny," de Villiers said. He did, however, leave the door open for Smith, but only in the opening role. "I can't see Graeme batting anywhere else," he said. "He knows I am a captain that is very fond of playing seven frontline batsmen, but tonight we felt an extra seam bowler could be handy."

Andrew Hudson, South Africa's convener selectors has also mentioned the seven-batsman formula for South Africa's one-day XI but it would result in Ryan McLaren being left out. After his performances this year - McLaren is the team's third highest wicket-taker in 2013 despite not playing in all of South Africa's games and has the ability to lengthen the lower middle-order - it would seem a harsh decision.

It would also mean de Kock would be the player to be shifted out of position. The 20 year-old will be asked to bat at No. 3 if Smith returns. "Quinny has got two kinds of games," de Villiers explained. "He has the ability to accelerate and then pull back like you saw [against India]. I feel he can adapt a bit better than others to No. 3."

Still, there was an indication that for that to happen, Smith will have to find one-day form again and that will be difficult for him to do. Smith plays very little domestic cricket. He has featured in only one List A since December 2011, for Surrey against Hampshire, and that statistic will remain until he heads back to the county circuit because South Africa's domestic one-day competition is over.

The Twenty20s event is still to be played and Smith, along with all the other national players, will be available for their franchises for most of that tournament. Even if Smith plays in it and excels, the question will remain over whether he wants to play limited-overs cricket.

At 32, retirement should be and is a distant thought for Smith but focusing on Tests only - and staying injury-free to honour his deal with Surrey - is not, even though Smith seems keen to hang on. He does not feature in the T20 squad - he last played in October 2011 - but it does not seem to be a decision he made himself.

When South Africa crashed out of the World T20 in Sri Lanka last year, again with the batting being their Achilles' Heel, many supporters asked Smith if he had retired from the shortest format. He replied confirming he had not and was "available to play all forms of the game". He still is, but whether he gets picked is a different question.


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England lose three in tough session

Lunch England 4 for 116 (Carberry 60, Bell 29*, Stokes 0*) trail Australia 9 for 570 dec by 454 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Irresponsible, certainly. Inexcusable? Well, the charge was understandable. Kevin Pietersen's dismissal on the third morning of the Adelaide Test heaped more troubles on an England side bedevilled by problems in the Ashes series.

By lunch, with three more wickets surrendered in the opening session, England were still 255 runs from avoiding the follow-on figure of 371, their only source of comfort being Michael Carberry's first Test half-century and a blissful start to his innings by Ian Bell, which by a distance represented England's most confident batting of the series

Heavily beaten in the first Test in Brisbane, and needing to make a concerted response to Australia's mammoth 9 for 570 to at least stabilise their Ashes tour, England endured two bad dismissals. If Joe Root's departure, slog-sweeping Nathan Lyon to deep square, was bad enough for England, Pietersen's wicket must have left them screeching with frustration.

Australia set two short midwickets when Peter Siddle bowled to Pietersen and he could not resist the challenge. He did not just play the shot, he manufactured it, moving across his stumps to a length ball and whipping it to the squarer of the two fielders, George Bailey, who juggled with it four times, without ever looking out of control, before the ball finally rested in his hands.

It is a shot Pietersen feasts upon, and such is his expressed determination to keep playing it that even if Australia stationed four short midwickets it would probably not quell his desire. Siddle, too, has repeatedly unsettled him around off stump and that has increased his desire to find a get-out shot. But he has fallen in this manner twice in the series and Australia can celebrate a tactical victory.

Pietersen also had a scare in Siddle's previous over, before he had scored, when Australia unsuccessfully reviewed for a catch at the wicket. The review was encouraged by the wicketkeeper, Brad Haddin, who was convinced he had heard a noise, but neither Hot Spot near Snicko - officially in use in the series for the first time - supported the notion.

Root would not be proud either of his attempt so slog-sweep Lyon. He was at full stretch as he took the ball from just outside off stump and misjudged the bounce. Even though the boundary in front of the unfinished stand is a mere 53 metres, he fell comfortably short, surrendering his wicket to a catch by Chris Rogers. Root had laboured for 80 balls for 15 and his efforts were wasted.

England, three down and with the debutant Ben Stokes due in at No.6, could draw consolation from the certainty of Michael Carberry. He had been fortunate to survive a traumatic last two balls on the first day when he might have been run out by Root and then would have fallen lbw to Mitchell Johnson if Australia had thought to review the not-out decision.

Bell was bent upon playing with natural freedom. He lofted his seventh ball, from Lyon, over long-off for six and, in Lyon's next over, cleared the rope at long-on. It had taken England 35 overs to get their scoring rate above two an over but by lunch, Carberry and Bell were finally assembling some sort of response.

Carberry was at his most dependable on a warm and sunny Adelaide morning, repelling the pace bowlers with stout defence and continuing to meet Lyon with confidence. Briefly, Bell and Carberry broke free, but Australia checked them again when Ryan Harris and Shane Watson produced five successive maidens - the last ball of the fifth of them resulting in the dismissal of Carberry who obligingly pulled a short ball from Watson to David Warner, who pulled off an excellent left-handed catch in front of square.

With two overs remaining before lunch, it was an awkward time for Stokes to come out to play his first Test innings. He watched Johnson from the non-striker's end before playing out a maiden against Lyon as England reached lunch in disarray.


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