Ashes, 1st Test, Day 4: Shane Watson admits Australia has lost its strong position in the Gabba Test
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson admitted on Sunday that the Australians are facing problems in sustaining pressure on the England batsmen in the Gabba Test - the Ashes opener.
Australia let slip the huge 221-run lead against England on the 4th day of the ongoing first Ashes Test as the English openers struck centuries to lead the team out of troubles. Skipper Andrew Strauss
and Alastair Cook shared a 188-run opening stand - England's highest ever partnership at the Gabba ground – after England resumed its second innings at 19 for 0 today.
Strauss, who scored a third ball duck in the first innings, had the Barmy Army behind him as he got past his 18th Test 100. By the stumps, the tourists - after overturning the 221-run first innings deficit
- were 309 for 1 with Alastair Cook unbeaten at 132 while Jonathan Trott was not out at 54.
"I think it came down to not sustaining pressure for long enough and we weren't able to do that for the whole day," said Watson. "We did it for little periods of time but unfortunately we couldn't execute for long
enough to really build the pressure on them."
Ponting tried six bowlers – both pacers and spinners – to seek a breakthrough but failed to get any after Andrew Strauss’s (110 runs) wicket. The home side failed to capitalize on the record breaking 6th wicket
partnership between Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin – worth 307 runs.
"It's disappointing because of how well Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin batted yesterday to get us into a position but unfortunately it's something we really haven't been able to do for a period of time, which is to
sustain pressure," Watson said.
Since the retirement of its star bowlers Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath in 2007, Australia are struggling to finish teams off. Their latest failure came against India in Mohali last month when they faced a one-wicket
defeat.