A Record-Breaking Day

England 215 & 80/2 Australia 280

England lead by 15 runs

Scorecard

I woke up at 8:30 this morning, and the ESPNCricinfo notifications I saw on my phone told me that Australia had been reduced to 117/9. Right, I was thinking, England will get them out for 150 at most and take the ascendancy in the match. However, I had failed to realize until I pulled up Cricinfo that Australia had already made much more than 150.

I saw that Australia had somehow gotten to 238/9 thanks to semi-experienced campaigner Phillip Hughes and a young man I didn't even know was in Australia's squad until a couple weeks ago. Ashton Agar, all of 19 years of age, more known for his left-arm spin bowling than his batting, which is why he was batting at number 11, was on 71 from 71 deliveries, along with Hughes who was on 66 from 108. Now since I got introduced to cricket in 2008, I have been privileged to see many great moments happen live, such as Ajantha Mendis' 6/13 against India, Sachin Tendulkar's 200 against South Africa, MS Dhoni's six to win the World Cup, Hashim Amla's 311 against England, Marlon Samuels' 78 against Sri Lanka, and Tino Best's 95 against England, the previous high score by a number 11. Moments like those have stuck with me, and this one today has definitely joined them. As I eagerly found an online stream to watch the action, and to see whether young Agar would go any farther, I began to think about the enormity of the situation. Here was a 19-year-old who came in with his team at 117/9 staring into a substantial deficit on his international debut. And what does he do? He plays every shot in the book. Powerful, well-timed drives against the fast bowlers. Audacious straight sixes, off an accomplished spinner in Graeme Swann, no less. On top of it all, Agar conducted his business with the biggest smile at Trent Bridge today, more so than the England fans' in the morning and the Australian fans' in the afternoon. Agar ended up making 98 of the best runs I have ever seen made by a player in that sort of situation. The only situation I can think of that even comes close to this is this 2010 match between Sri Lanka and Australia. When Agar got out, pulling the ball to deep midwicket, he still had the same smile on his face that he had while playing all his lovely shots.

Well played Ashton Agar, and if this doesn't get you a promotion from number 11, I don't know what will.

After Australia were finally dismissed for 280, England went about consolidating and not trying to lose wickets until the end of the day. After Mitchell Starc, a left-arm fast bowler for Australia, took the wickets of Joe Root and Jonathan Trott in consecutive balls, both on questionable calls, Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen batted until the end of the day, getting England to 80/2.

A cracking Day 3 is in prospect, so wake up at 5 am, grab some coffee or tea, and find an online stream to watch the action!

In other cricketing news today...

India 203/9 beat Sri Lanka 201 by 1 wicket

Scorecard

MS Dhoni is quickly proving that he is the best captain in world cricket. After Dhoni got injured in the first game of this ODI tri-series in the West Indies, involving the hosts West Indies, India, and Sri Lanka, his Indian team looked listless in their first game under new leader Virat Kohli, conceding 374 against Sri Lanka. The stage was set for a half-fit Dhoni to make his return to the team after India scraped through to the final after a win over the Sri Lankans. And what a part he played. India were chasing a seemingly easy target of 202, and Dhoni walked to the crease with India at 139/4. Then India went through a momentary collapse which left them at 182/9. Dhoni has this ability to make his players better, and he did that with last man Ishant Sharma today, inspiring Ishant to fend off the Sri Lankan bowlers eagerly searching for the final wicket. It all came down to India needing 15 off the last over. Leave it to Mr. Cool. Six, four, six, and the game was over. Dhoni has truly proven in his career that he has the Midas touch. Also, this series was available on ESPN3, so head there if you want to catch the action from what was a great match.