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Mitchell Starc’s pink-ball mastery has put Australia in command of the second Ashes Test, taking a 282-run lead to stumps on day three with nine wickets in hand.
On another dominant day for Australia, Starc became the first man to reach 50 pink-ball Test wickets in a format he has quickly made his own.
Starc’s 4-37 on Saturday helped create an England capitulation, going from 2-150 in reply to Australia’s 9-473 declared to 236 all out.
Steve Smith then opted not to enforce the follow on, as Australia went to stumps at 1-45 after David Warner was the victim of a mid-wicket mix up on 13.
But the man of the day was again Starc, as he so often is under lights in Adelaide.
He has now taken 12 wickets more than the next best with the pink ball, while his 50 wickets have come at an average of 18.10.
His scalps have also come at both day and night, with his pink-ball approach one others could learn from.
He had Jos Buttler and Rory Burns both edging to fuller balls, while Dawid Malan’s was just back of a length but by no means overly short.
“I might go for a few extra runs sometimes but I’m trying to bowl that full length,” Starc said.
“If we look at day one, there’s only five per cent of the balls or something England were hitting the stump.
“So you learn from that as an opposition. But we’ve also played a fair bit with the pink ball.
“The quicks we’ve got in this game generally bowl that full length anyway and generally hit the stumps more.”
Australia remain unbeaten in the eight pink-ball Tests they have played, partly because of game management and partly because of skill of the likes of Starc.
He has long maintained his pink-ball advantage was that it acted similar to the white ball, but admitted he was still yet to completely nail it during the day.
“We’ve got a bit of a luxury of having played eight Tests and (six) have been here,” Starc said.
“I don’t think I’ve nailed it. But we’ve all got a certain plan to it.”
Cameron Green was also influential for Australia with 2-24, claiming the key wicket of Joe Root and ending a 138-run stand between the England skipper and Dawid Malan.
The pair were England’s best in their series-opening loss in Brisbane, and looked set in the first session on day three before Green’s breakthrough.
Green beat Root twice in the over in the lead-up to catching his edge on 62 before Starc broke England’s back, having Malan caught in the slips six overs later for 80.
Green’s returns have rewarded Australia’s selectors after they persisted with the allrounder through a wicketless summer last season.
“This summer he has coming into his own,” Starc said.
“When you’ve got someone that’s already nearly seven foot who bowls some pretty decent click, (you) get extra bounce from that height.
“He’s obviously taken his first wicket now, a little bit of confidence behind him.”
Nathan Lyon also had a sizeable influence, taking 3-58 on a pitch where England opted against playing a specialist spinner.
Australia will now likely try to bat through until the twilight session on day four, before leaving England with the best part of four sessions to save the match.
A loss for England in Adelaide would be devastating, leaving them 2-0 down in the series and needing to win all three remaining Tests to regain the Ashes.
Australian Associated Press
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