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Brisban: Before the second Ashes Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, England opener Zak Crawley faced harsh criticism. The 27-year-old scored two runs in the series opener against Australia in Perth, but his spot in the starting lineup was then in doubt. But the management of the England squad had a great deal of faith in the cricket player, and he returned the favor by scoring 76 runs in the first innings of the second Test.

as a crushing loss in the first game, Crawley and Joe Root were under pressure to salvage the innings as opener Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope both scored a duck. However, after stitching a 117-run partnership, they were able to keep the scoreboard moving. In particular, Crawley played with a great deal of poise, leaving 26% of the balls, his greatest percentage in a half-century.

Crawley, meanwhile, became this decade’s most successful Test opener with another half-century. He presently leads Dimuth Karunaratne, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Duckett, who are in second and joint-third place, respectively, with 22 50+ scores in the format.

Openers with the most 50+ points this decade

In Australia, Root reaches his tenth half-century.
In the second Test, Root reached his tenth half-century, his first Test century in Australia. Similar to Duckett, he shown a great deal of poise and will now want to maintain the pace and reach the three-figure milestone. Even if powerful batsmen like Harry Brook and Ben Stokes might also make the difference, Root’s performance in the game will have a significant impact on England’s outcome.