Adelaide: On Day 2 of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval, Australian pace bowler Michael Neser remarked that a strong batting performance soothed his nerves and gave him the confidence to return with the ball and upset England. On his Test debut, Nesar smashed a 24-ball 35 as Australia declared their first innings lead at 473/9 in 150.4 overs.

In the 2.1 overs he bowled on Friday, the fast bowler, who replaced Pat Cummins after the skipper was ruled out of the second Test, immediately took the wicket of opener Haseeb Hameed to reduce the tourists to 17/2 in 8.4 overs.

The 31-year-old Neser has been the 12th man more than a dozen times, so it's been a long wait for him to wear the Australian colours. "(Batting first) definitely took a lot of the nerves out of the way, and I probably carried that momentum into my bowling," Neser told SEN Test Cricket ahead of Day 3 on Saturday.

"Even though I only bowled a few overs, the ball seemed to be coming out nicely. That, I think, is my philosophy (do good things and good things will come). I simply want to make my nation and my family proud, and being given the opportunity to do so is a dream come true."

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