“He was fantastic,” says Eoin Morgan of Alex Carey’s important run in the first Ashes Test.

At the end of Day 2 of the first Ashes Test, Australia was on 311/5 in response to England’s first innings score of 393/8d. Usman Khawaja led the comeback by getting his first Test hundred in England, and he was still unbeaten on 126 when the fightback ended. Alex Carey helped him out a lot. At the end of the day, he was still unbeaten with 52 runs, and he and the sixth wicket added 91 runs together.

After the day’s play was over, former England player Eoin Morgan praised Carey for his brilliant fifty and said that he tipped the scales in Australia’s favour.

“I think Australia’s day has come. I’d rather be in Australia’s dressing room right now, and Carey is the reason why. You can always count on an Aussie to get a few runs on this track. Eoin Morgan told Sky Sports that Khawaja and Carey did a great job of giving the team a boost late in the day and keeping it going until the new ball came in.

Stuart Broad’s double-wicket over from earlier in the day put Australia on the back foot. The senior seamer again caused David Warner, who was batting first, trouble. Warner was out when he got an inside edge that hit back onto his stumps.

Australia was behind by 82 runs on Day 2. Broad then got rid of Marnus Labuschagne for a golden duck as he ran in while the Edgbaston crowd cheered loudly. England was happy again when their captain, Ben Stokes, got the prized scalp of Steve Smith, leaving Australia in trouble at 67/3.

After a bunch of wickets fell quickly, Khawaja held one end and added to his score. Travis Head (50), Cameron Green (38), and Carey (52 not out) helped him out a lot. They formed important partnerships with the starter and helped Australia reach 300 runs with five wickets left.