England lose Duckett in reply to Australia’s 317 on second morning of 4th Ashes test

England lost Ben Duckett in its reply to Australia’s 317 all out on the second morning of the fourth Ashes test at Old Trafford on Thursday. Duckett went after fast bowler Mitchell Starc well outside off stump and feathered an edge behind on 1 at 9-1 in the third over. Fellow opener Zac Crawley rode his luck to reach lunch on 26 with fill-in No. 3 Moeen Ali on 31. England was 61-1.

Crawley edged Josh Hazlewood on 12 but the ball fell short of first slip David Warner, and he was given out on 20 after he was pinned on the pads by Cameron Green. But Crawley reviewed successfully, as the ball was missing leg stump by a whisker. Ali looked much more comfortable. He hit a couple of boundaries off a loose Hazlewood over and sent two consecutive Pat Cummins deliveries to the fence, passing 3,000 test runs in the process.

Australia’s first innings resumed on 299-8 and lasted 18 more runs and 7.2 overs. Pat Cummins was out to the first ball of the day, driving James Anderson straight to Stuart Broad at cover point. Anderson’s first wicket of the innings ensured all five England bowlers took one at least.

Cummins was out for 1. His replacement, Hazlewood, should have been out caught for 1, too, and the innings wrapped up on 300 but Chris Woakes over-stepped. Woakes got him on 4 with an edge to the slips. Woakes’ 5-62 earned his first five-for against Australia. Starc was left unbeaten on 36.