Steve Smith scored an unbeaten 85 to information Australia to 339-5 as England wasted beneficial bowling situations on the primary day of the second Ashes take a look at at Lord’s on Wednesday.
England captain Ben Stokes gained the toss underneath gray skies and floodlights on the house of cricket, sending Australia into bat with excessive hopes of taking early wickets in his staff’s bid to degree the sequence.
But David Warner and Usman Khawaja rode their luck to share a gritty opening partnership of 73 and though Josh Tongue eliminated them each, Marnus Labuschagne made 47 and Travis Head a fast 77 to place Australia in a commanding place.
Joe Root eliminated Head and Cameron Green in the identical over to offer England late hope however the day firmly belonged to Australia.
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The sport was disrupted after one over when two Just Stop Oil protesters ran on to the pitch and sprayed orange powder on to the outfield however Warner and Khawaja weren’t distracted.
They negotiated probing spells from James Anderson and Stuart Broad and, after a brief rain delay, Warner reached his fifty by hooking Tongue for six earlier than Khawaja was bowled by the identical bowler for 17 simply earlier than lunch.
Each batsman was dropped within the slips, Khawaja providing a really troublesome probability to Root and Warner a pointy one to Ollie Pope.
Warner lived dangerously after lunch too, significantly towards Tongue who continued his spectacular spell by bowling the left-hander via the gate for 66 with a tremendous swinging supply to scale back Australia to 96-2.
Smith emerged from the pavilion to a refrain of boos however he settled down rapidly and silenced the gang with two luxurious drives off Broad to the duvet boundary.
England’s Joe Root celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia’s Travis Head, stumped by Jonny Bairstow.
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Reuters
Broad virtually exacted swift revenge when Smith was given out caught by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow in the identical over for twenty-four however the batsman reviewed and the choice was overturned.
Labuschagne began slowly earlier than discovering his rhythm with three fours off one Broad over and when Stokes introduced himself on to bowl the Australian right-hander stroked him to the boundary thrice.
Broad thought he had trapped Labuschagne lbw, the umpire elevating his finger earlier than the batsman was reprieved, however the Australian departed shortly after tea, feathering a catch to Bairstow off Ollie Robinson.
Head joined Smith and accelerated the scoring fee because the England bowlers drained within the ultimate session.
Smith handed fifty and Head reached his half-century off solely 48 balls, the pair peppering the boundary rope throughout the bottom.
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Australia’s Steven Smith (L) and Australia’s Alex Carey depart the pitch on the finish of play on day one of many second Ashes cricket Test match between England and Australia at Lord’s cricket floor in London.
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AFP
Head was stumped off Root by Bairstow after scoring 77 off 73 balls and three deliveries later Cameron Green aimed an unpleasant swipe on the spinner to offer Anderson a easy catch at mid-off.
It was a optimistic finish to a poor day for England wherein Stokes seemed wanting concepts and used few of the progressive discipline settings which have been a characteristic of his captaincy.
He bowled solely three overs and England’s hopes of profitable again the Ashes are fading after six days of the sequence.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com