The Ashes best bets for day three and odds: Aussies in the pink in Adelaide

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for the Ashes between Australia and England.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 4am Saturday

Scoreboard
Australia 473-9d (Labuschagne 103, Stokes 3-113) lead England 17-2 by 456 runs

Best prices
3-10 Australia, 33-1 England, 100-30 Draw

Story of day two

The blueprint for success in day-night Test matches is to pile on the runs during the day before having a crack at your opponents with the pink ball just as the sun is setting and Australia executed that plan to perfection in Adelaide.

Resuming on 221-2, the Aussies continued to bat patiently until Ollie Robinson finally got rid of Marnus Labuschagne, pinned lbw after making 103 off 305 balls.

Joe Root and Ben Stokes bowled Travis Head and Cameron Green to spark hopes of a collapse from Australia but stand-in captain Steve Smith (93) and wicketkeeper Alex Carey (51) laid a foundation for some lower-order fireworks.

Carey was the seventh man out for 390 before Mitchell Starc (39 not out) and Michael Neser (35) put it to a weary England attack, allowing Smith to declare the innings at 473-9.

Starc then had the struggling Rory Burns caught at slip in the third over and Neser dismissed England's other opener Haseeb Hameed shortly before a thunderstorm ended play early, much to the relief of not-out batsmen Root and Dawid Malan.

Star of the day

Test debutant Neser enjoyed some memorable moments with both bat and ball. The number nine cracked 35 off just 24 balls to speed Australia towards their first-innings declaration and then struck with just his second ball in Test cricket when Hameed shovelled a catch to mid-on.

Moment of the day

England's issues with no-balls hurt them in the first Test at the Gabba and Labuschagne edged Robinson's first delivery of day two to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, only to be reprieved because the bowler had overstepped.

Fortunately, the Sussex seamer dismissed Australia's number three in his next over but the incident epitomised England's ragged start to the Ashes series.

View from the camp

'It's a pretty tough wicket. You really have to grind, back your defence and leave well, then cash in if they bowl anything loose. We still have a pretty new ball that will hopefully move around in the morning.'

Steve Smith, Australia captain

Day three preview

Root and Malan shared a stand of 162 in the second innings of the first Test (more than 36 per cent of England's total match runs at the Gabba) and they will be aiming to provide similar resistance in Adelaide.

Given the match situation, this would be an opportune moment for Root to score his first Test century in Australia and he is 5-1 with Hills to do so.

However, the England skipper has been in the field for two days, bowling 20 overs of spin himself, so this will be a test of his physical and mental stamina and he is 8-5 with bet365 to top-score for his side.

Despite England's predictably grim start under the lights, they should be backed to get over a runs line of 236.5 given that Australia are missing their two best bowlers, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.

Root and Malan capitalised on the best batting conditions in Brisbane and the first two sessions on day three should be less treacherous as the pitch still looks decent and a sunny day is forecast.

Patience will be the key, as shown by Australia's top batsmen Smith, Labuschagne and David Warner, who scored 291 runs between them at a strike-rate of just 43 per 100 balls.

Expectations are low that England can avoid going 2-0 down in the series and the draw is bigger than 3-1 despite only 11 wickets falling on the first two days, with showers forecast for day four, but their batsmen should be backed to show some fight on the third day.

Best bet

England to score over 236.5 first-innings runs
2pts 5-6 Hills

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