Anatomy of Chaos: How Australia Turned the Ashes Test with a Post-Lunch Blitz
PERTH: After England’s bowlers had heroically rallied to dismiss Australia for just 132, securing a first-innings lead of 40, the visitors entered Day Two’s afternoon session as firm favorites in the First Ashes Test. However, an hour of chaotic batting immediately following lunch triggered an “epic collapse,” transforming England from a commanding position to likely losers and setting Australia a modest target of 205.
Before the main collapse, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope had settled England’s second innings, with the lead approaching 100. The pressure mounted just before lunch when Scott Boland, finally finding his rhythm, struck Duckett painfully on the elbow. Although Duckett successfully reviewed a tight Leg Before Wicket (LBW) decision, the delay and the aggressive spell signalled trouble ahead.
The chaos began immediately after lunch. In the first over, Boland found his man, dismissing Ben Duckett (65 for two) with a beautiful delivery that was safely pouched by Steve Smith at slip.
The real “brainlessness” began shortly after. In Boland’s next over, Ollie Pope (76 for three) could not resist a full, wide tempter and drove wildly, giving Alex Carey an easy catch. The very next ball in the over, Harry Brook (76 for four), the vice-captain, lost patience and edged his third delivery to first slip in an “ugly dismissal.”
The worst was yet to come. Mitchell Starc, bowling with eight wickets in the match already, was brought back. His second delivery was a wide ‘tempter’ which Joe Root (76 for five)—the ‘designated driver’ of the Bazball operation—tried to nail through cover, only to inside-edge the ball onto his stumps. The stunning horror spell of three wickets for zero runs in six balls ripped the guts out of the middle order.
Although new batsman Jamie Smith survived a dropped catch, the final blow came five overs later when Ben Stokes (88 for six) edged a shaping back-of-a-length delivery from Starc to Steve Smith, leaving the tail exposed and the match decisively in Australia’s favour.
