ASHES Stumps Day Two: Maiden century for Burns as England takes ascendency

The England crowd applaud Rory Burns on making his maiden century.

England has uncovered its latest Ashes hero, with opener Rory Burns grinding his way to a maiden Test century as the hosts dominated day two at Edgbaston.

After Steve Smith's day-one heroics, Burns (125 not out) took up the mantle of the awkward-looking batsman notching a pivotal ton on a pitch that did not make scoring easy, guiding his team to 4-267 at stumps, trailing Australia by just 17 runs.

It was a day of toil and near misses for Australia in the field, as Tim Paine's team was left to rue some misfortune as England's batsmen — led by Burns and captain Joe Root's (57) — ensured the team will be able take a first-innings lead early on day three.

Burns set the tone for the rest of his innings early. He was not always completely convincing, and his unorthodox batting stance and setup may have looked a little ungainly, but he was compact in defence and effective when the time came to attack.

In contrast, opening partner Jason Roy never looked comfortable, and it was no surprise that he fell early edging James Pattinson to Smith in the slips.

That brought Root to the crease, and he and Burns set about establishing a lengthy partnership — but not without some luck.

Burns was struck on the pad by a Nathan Lyon delivery in one of the spinner's early overs, prompting a confident appeal. But when the umpire turned the shout down, the Australians opted against a review.

Replays showed that was a poor choice — Burns was, in fact, out LBW.

While he was making the most of a life, Root got one of his own. Initially given out caught behind, Root reviewed the decision immediately and replays quickly proved he did not nick it, and instead the ball from Pattinson had hit the top of the off stump without dislodging the bail.

The Australians could rightly feel frustrated, and as the English pair mixed solid defence, classy strokeplay and plenty of fortuitous edges, that frustration only grew.

Both Root and Burns passed half-centuries, and the skipper looked set for a big one, until the tenacious and indefatigable Peter Siddle forced a slight misjudgement. Root chipped the ball back towards the bowler, who stuck out a hand to take a sharp catch.

But Burns continued on his merry way. Happy to play and miss at numerous deliveries, he sprinkled in plenty of wonderful driving, particularly straight down the ground, as he closed in on a century.

Joe Denly partnered him for a while, but fell victim to a tidy piece of bowling from Pattinson — helped by a change in ball, which sparked the sudden introduction of reverse swing — and was trapped LBW.

The extra life in the ball brought Australia to life late in the day, Jos Buttler falling cheaply after Pat Cummins squared him up and nicked him off to Cameron Bancroft at third slip.

At that point, all focus turned to Burns and his pursuit of a century on his Ashes debut.

His lengthy stint in the nervous 90s was torturous, with the outside edge of his bat beaten nearly a dozen times as he desperately tried to eke out the final runs.

Right to the last he ran it close. After an eternity on 99, Burns dropped a ran a quick single to mid on. Cummins threw the stumps down, forcing a third umpire review, but Burns knew he had made his ground and completed a meaningful century.

He and Ben Stokes (37 not out) made it to the end of day unscathed despite a number of close calls, particularly against Lyon, with the English crowd growing in voice, cheering every successfully negotiated delivery as the shadows grew longer and the scoreboard ticked over.

THE STAR

Rory Burns cuts during his century.

Rory Burns' maiden test century came straight out of the Test match batting text book, finishing the day with 125 not out from 282 balls, he hit the boundary 16 times and faced dot ball after dot ball, absorbing any pressure the Australian's were able to apply and turn it into strike rotation and crafty stroke play when the opportunity arose. He had his luck, a number of times putting the ball through the slips and gully at catchable height, but test centuries seldom come without playing false shots and fortuning from some good luck. Day Three is Burns' day to go big, with the Australian bowlers looking lost at how to get him out.

THE MOMENT

The Australians are left amazed by a successful DRS by Joe Root.

Twice, Joe Root would successfully review a decision to save his wicket, which proved crucial as he and Rory Burns would put 132 on for the 2nd wicket. Once the Australians thought they had him caught behind, only to see on review that the ball had clipped the off stump without dislodging the bail. Moments later, Peter Siddle would nip one back, crashing into Roots pads. On review, it was clear that Root had edged the ball onto his pads.

THE FAILURE

Peter Siddle may have claimed a wicket, but the commission of Hazlewood or Starc has many scratching their heads.

Potentially the only failure was by Jos Buttler on Day Two, but that would be harsh against him as he merely was out played early in his innings. For the Australian's they all bowled economically and created enough movement to give them hope a wicket was around the corner. But the failure must be said to be the Australian selectors. Barring a five wicket haul from Peter Siddle on Day Three, you would expect that Josh Hazlewood, or Mitch Starc, or both, to have been more of an attacking threat on Day Two.

THE STAT

3rd - This century by Rory Burns is only the third century scored by an English Opener (barring Alistair Cook) since the 2015 Ashes series. Keaten Jennings scored two centuries between 2016 and 2018, and with him still at the crease, there is the chance that Burns could turn this into a big one.