Jacob Bethell posted his first test century Wednesday and it couldn’t have come at a more crucial time for England, ensuring the fifth and last Ashes Test will be decided on Day 5 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Stand of 81 with Duckett
The 22-year-old, Barbados-born all-rounder went to the crease in the first over of England’s second innings when Mitchell Starc trapped Zac Crawley lbw on the fifth ball. He shared an 81-run second-wicket stand with Ben Duckett (42), 32 with Joe Root (6), 102 with Harry Brook (42) and 45 with Jamie Smith (26) to help England reach 302-8 at stumps on Day 4, a lead of 119 runs.
Bethell finished 142 not out from 232 balls, helping England erase the 183-run first-innings deficit and maintain a chance of winning back-to-back tests Down Under.
Australia’s Beau Webster celebrates a wicket on Wednesday
“It was special to get the milestone,” Bethell said in a TV interview. “To have the family over … [and] to top it off with a hundred here is very special.”
In just his sixth test, and second of this series, Bethell found a way to survive while wickets tumbled around him as allrounder Beau Webster (3-51) emerged as the unlikely star for Australia by taking three wickets with his occasional off-spin.
Webster took two wickets in three deliveries to swing momentum. He removed Brook, trapped lbw to a ball that turned sharply out of the rough, and Will Jacks, inexcusably hitting out and caught in the deep by Cameron Green for a second-ball duck, as England slumped to 219-5.
A chaotic run out, first ball after the drinks break in the evening session, saw Jamie Smith (26) sent back by Bethell and well out of his ground when Jake Weatherald threw to Marnus Labuschagne to whip off the bails at the bowler’s end.
Webster’s wickets may have a positive spinoff on a turning pitch for England, which has Bethell, Jacks and possibly Root as spin options and could make chasing 170 or more a tricky prospect.
Webster shocked by spin
“Certainly didn’t think it would be with spin today,” Webster said of the crucial wickets in his Ashes debut.
The 32 year-old allrounder said the Australians were “very well placed, obviously” to win.
“We’d like to mop up these last two as quickly as we can, hopefully with the new ball around the corner as well, … and [England]hopefully not too many ahead, and let the top-order boys get the job done,” he added.
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