Bracey, Robinson and Overton star as England Lions dominate day two against Australia A

A half-century from James Bracey and five important wickets from the seamers put England Lions in firm control on day two their day/night against Australia A at the MCG.

The Lions lead by 325 runs as the hosts slumped to 103 for five at stumps with Australia’s top five batsmen, all of whom are capped at Test level, back in the pavilion.

Resuming on 274 for three, Dan Lawrence was dismissed in the second over of the day without adding to his overnight score of 125; his partnership with Dom Sibley finally broken on 219.

Sibley fell eight overs later, edging Mark Steketee behind for 116 and Tom Abell added three runs before falling to the same bowler.

Gloucestershire’s Bracey added 64 with Dom Bess for the seventh wicket before the Somerset spinner became Steketee’s fourth wicket, dismissed for 29.

Bracey passed 50 as England’s tail wagged and when the Lions’ wicketkeeper was dismissed for 65, Brydon Carse (30no) and Ollie Robinson (13) hung around for ten more overs and added 37 for the final wicket.

A tight opening bowling spell was rewarded in the tenth over when Ollie Robinson induced Marcus Harris into a mistake, hitting a catch to Lawrence when on six. Nic Maddinson followed in the next over, falling LBW to Craig Overton for just one.

Kurtis Patterson added 11 before being removed by Carse, bringing captain Moises Henriques together with opener Usman Khawaja. The pair added 30 before Khawaja edged Overton behind to Bracey for 30 and Henriques fell nine runs later for 25, with Overton inducing the edge to the keeper.

Josh Inglis (13no) and Jack Wildermuth (11no) saw out the final six overs of the night to push past the 100 mark, but the hosts still trail by over 300.

QUOTES

Keaton Jennings said: “We’re really pleased with our day’s work, pushing on past 400 runs and making great inroads with the ball to put us in a strong position going into the second half of the match.

“James Bracey batted really well with the lower order to help us to a good first innings total and to pass 400 for the second time in two matches.

“Then our seamers were excellent against a high-quality and experienced Australian top-five. The match is set up for a good final couple of days and we’ll be looking to continue our strong start with early wickets tomorrow.”