Australia are well on top after Day 1 of the 3rd Test match at Old Trafford, on what was a flat pitch offering little for the seamer's on the opening day. The Australian closed day 1 on 303-3 after winning the toss and choosing to bat in good batting conditions on the opening day. Australia announced 3 changes to the team with David Warner, spinner Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc replacing Phil Hughes, young Ashton Agar and injured James Pattinson, meanwhile England were unchanged. Michael Clarke put in a very strong performance on the opening day, finishing not out on 125 with Steven Smith on 70 not out in a partnership worth 174 for the fourth wicket. Both players played the off spin of Graeme Swann very well, and this is all down to their good use of feet, something the rest of the Australian batsmen could learn from. England's fast bowlers plugged away on what was a hot and difficult day in the field. Tim Bresnan was the pick of England's quick's with figures of 1-51 in 20 overs, while the Graeme Swann's spin picked up 2 wickets for 82 runs in 25 overs on a pitch that will definetly offer more for the spinners than the fast bowlers. Stuart Broad bowled very well without any reward for his efforts, while James Anderson looked below par after the opening hour had passed and the ball stopped swinging.
The umpiring decisions once again overshadowed a good day of Cricket however. Usman Khawaja was given out caught behind off of the bowling of Graeme Swann on 1, putting at 82-2. Khawaja reviewed the decision, and it seemed he was right to do so as their was no mark on the bat from hotspot and no real noise to show Khawaja had hit. Yet the Third Umpire concluded that there was not enough evidence to overturn the decision, while most fans could see that there was enough proof. Cricket Australia have since asked the ICC for an explanation behind this decision and have every right to feel aggrieved.
Chris Rogers also played very well at the start of the day, looking very fluent in his innings of 84 off of 114 balls. Rogers hit 14 fours in his innings and took over from Shane Watson as the quick scorer of the opening pair. Rogers looked very good and probably deserved a century before he was out LBW to Graeme Swann. In contrast Rogers opening partner Shane Watson was a lot more cautious in his approach to his innings and whilst offering a lot less LBW chances, he did get beaten more on his outside edge as a result. He had got to 19 off of 49 balls before Tim Bresnan finally found his outside edge with captain Alastair Cook taking the catch at first slip.
This has all set-up an interesting Test match that should see a run fest in both teams first innings and probably lower scores later on as the spinners will dominate. Hope you have enjoyed my opening day round-up, and i'll be back tomorrow to review Day 2 of this vital clash.
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