England were in complete control of proceedings on Day 2 of the second Test against Australia at Lord’s on Thursday. First Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett started strongly after the lunch session and then Ollie Pope joined in to ensure smooth movement.
England had stitched a 91-run partnership for the first wicket and then 97 runs for the second wicket. All was plain sailing as Australia, who had scored 416 runs, and led the Ashes 1-0, looked to be out of ideas.
Things went from bad to worse when Nathan Lyon picked up an injury while trying to take a catch. He hobbled off the field of play with a calf injury and his involvement in rest of the contest is unclear.
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That is when timely intervention and guidance from former Australia skipper Steve Smith got the team some much-needed breakthroughs.
“It wasn’t ideal,” Smith said of Lyon’s injury according to cricket.com.au. “We’re going to miss Nathan this game and could miss him for a little while. I said to Patty (Cummins), ‘Why don’t we go for it with the short stuff?’”
In the next 15 overs, Australia staged a mini-revival. Banging in short balls and fielders on the leg side seemed to be the most obvious strategy and yet England were sucked in. Three wickets fell in a gap of 34 runs with Smith taking two catches in the deep.
The wickets included those of in-form Joe Root and Duckett who was dismissed for 98 runs, agonisingly close to his maiden Ashes ton.
“It was interesting. You ask most of the fast bowlers, they probably wouldn’t want to keep charging in and bowling short stuff, but while it looked as likely as it did on a pretty benign surface, I think it was the right way to go,” the former Australian skipper said.
“If you get under a few, then we might stop doing it – maybe, I’m not sure – but they kept taking it on and they kept presenting opportunities for us,” he added.
Smith, who struck his 12th Ashes century and 32nd of his career, was crucial in Australia’s total in the first innings. In reply, England were 278/4 at stumps on Day 2, trailing by 148 runs.
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