Ashes 2019: Jofra Archer takes six wickets, as England take first-innings lead over Australia

  • 14/09/2019

Jofra Archer took six wickets as England's bowlers gave their side a 78-run lead at stumps on day two of the final Ashes test at the Oval.

Archer's haul helped reduce Australia to 225 all out in reply to their own first innings score of 294, before England finished the day 9/0 in their second innings. 

Marcus Harris handed Joe Denly a life on one when he put down a regulation catch in the final over, which ended with Rory Burns successfully reviewing his lbw dismissal.

England started the day by adding 23 runs to their overnight score of 271 before losing their last two wickets. Australia's Mitchell Marsh claimed his first five-wicket haul in test cricket to end the innings.

Australian batsman Steve Smith, who has scored more than twice as many runs as any other batsman in the series, underpinned the visitors' reply before being trapped lbw by Chris Woakes on 80, his lowest score of this series.

He built his innings cautiously, scoring nine fours and just one six, which came when he lofted a Jack Leach ball far over long on to bring up his half-century.

It was Smith's 10th consecutive 50 against England in tests, the most in a row by any batsmen against any other nation in the longest format of the game.

Smith has now scored 751 runs in six innings, more than twice as many as any other batsman on either side in the series.

England had struggled to break the combination of Smith and Marnus Labuschagne for almost an hour after lunch before Jofra Archer made the breakthrough, catching Labuschagne out lbw on 48 with an inswinging ball.

Sam Curran then claimed the wicket of Matthew Wade, out lbw for 19 runs, bringing Mitchell Marsh to the crease.

Marsh was out soon after tea, hooking an Archer bouncer all the way down to deep fine leg, where Leach crouched down in front of the boundary rope to take a low catch.

Reuters