da luck： ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the third day between Australia and England at the Gabba
Andrew Miller and Peter English at the Gabba27-Nov-2010
Drop of the day, Mk 1: Alastair Cook misses a chance•Getty Images
Roar of the day
Michael Hussey hasn’t been shouting from the rooftops about how good he’sbeen feeling during his run drought of the past year. But the noise hecreated when he reached his century showed how much it meant to end it. Ashe clenched Brad Haddin for a celebratory hug, Hussey yelled his reliefloud into his partner’s ear. It was Hussey’s first hundred since Januaryand it might take until the New Year’s Test for the ringing to leaveHaddin’s head.Near miss of the day
Hussey was five runs from his first Test double-century when he aimed ahook shot to push him closer to the milestone. The pull had been his mostprofitable shot during the innings, but Finn’s ball bounced a littlehigher than Hussey wanted and he found Alastair Cook at deep square leg.Even though the innings saved his career, Hussey didn’t allow himself asmile as he left the ground. That will come later, but first there was thefrustration of a near miss to overcome.Spell of the day
England knew that the third day was their day of reckoning, and no-oneknew it better than their bowler of the moment, James Anderson. He hadgone to bed knowing he would be armed with a pristine new ball come themorning session, and in eight exceptional overs in the space of an hourand ten minutes, he strung together a spell that deserved to transform thegame. Had he managed a breakthrough, his challenge to the tail would havebeen immense, but Hussey’s two referral-based let-offs strangled thatprospect at birth. On 82, he successfully overturned an lbw that pitchedoutside leg; on 85, Aleem Dar said no to a shout that England themselvescould have claimed, had they not wasted their lives on day two. StillAnderson refused to be bowed, beating the edge at will while concedingjust 14 runs in his spell, and by the time he took a blow, Australia hadstill not quite chiselled their first-innings lead.Drop of the day Mk 1
The lead was still a surmountable 39 when Paul Collingwood was thrown theball. The decision raised eyebrows among the Channel Nine commentators,although his tidy offcutters have become a significant part of England’sone-day plans in recent months. Sure enough, Brad Haddin’s first reactionwas one of over-confidence. He climbed into a first-ball drive but scoopeda steepling chance down towards the Vulture Street sightscreen, where Cookbackpedalled for all he was worth. The chance, however, burst through hisoutstretched fingers, and Haddin didn’t make the same mistake again. Threeballs later he measured his drive to perfection, and thumped Collingwoodhandsomely for four.Drop of the day Mk 2
As the afternoon wore on, the sense of despondency seeped into every facetof England’s game. The ground fielding developed leaks, the bowling lostits focus, and a once-moderate lead grew as inexorably as the noise amonga raucous Saturday crowd, a crowd that knows no other fate for visitingteams than large and thumping losses. Hard as they tried to keepthemselves chipper, the nadir of their fortunes came in the 130th over,with Haddin’s century already in the bank and Australia’s 400 just aroundthe corner. A bouncer barrage from Stuart Broad finally paid off as Haddinpulled uncomfortably to mid-on, but Anderson – one of the best outfieldersin the team – didn’t get close to the chance.Mop of the day
Steven Finn’s two-wicket burst gave England a shot at parity on the secondday, and while he was as helpless as any of his team-mates while Husseyand Haddin were in harness, the manner in which he cashed in after finallyluring Hussey into a false stroke was a pyrrhic victory that may yet proveinvaluable for future engagements. After 32 wickets in eight previousTests, he collected a five-for at the first attempt against Australia,with none of Australia’s lower-order comfortable with his nagging accuracyfrom a cloud-snaggingly high release point.