England hope for record run-chase miracle on final day at Lord’s
Second Test, Day 4: England 325 and 114-4 trail Australia 416 and 279 by 256 runs
LORD’S — England are relying on another Ashes miracle to win this second Test against Australia – yet they had enough luck late on the fourth day to give them hope they may be able to chase down a Lord’s record target of 371.
Ben Stokes is a man who works in miracles, witness what he did against these same opponents at Headingley in 2019.
Yet if his side are to head back to Leeds next week still in this series, they will need their captain to work his magic again against an Australia team who are still firm favourites to seal victory here and take a 2-0 lead into the remaining three Tests.
However, in an uber-positive England camp where hope always springs eternal, they will believe they can pull of Bazball’s biggest triumph yet after ending day four of this match on 114 for four.
The odds are still long. Yet Stokes will not be alone in his attempt to climb Everest. In Ben Duckett he still has a willing accomplice, the pair’s unbroken 69-run fifth-wicket stand giving the hosts a puncher’s chance of chasing down the 257 more runs needed to pull off victory.
They will feel the fates may be with them, too, after Duckett was twice the beneficiary of reprieves that allowed him to reach the close unbeaten on 50. Firstly, he was dropped on nought in the opening over of the chase by Cameron Green after edging Mitchell Starc to gully.
The opener was then given an even bigger let-off right at the end of the day, with Starc claiming a contentious catch at fine leg after he top-edged Green. With Duckett walking off and England looking dead and buried on 113 for five, the umpires took a second look at the catch. Duckett stopped and replays appeared to show Starc grounding the ball on his landing. It was a marginal call that Australians will protest but it went England’s way.
Key moments on day four
Smith bounced out
One ball after Josh Tongue had Travis Head dropped by James Anderson, the fast bowler tempted Steve Smith into an errant pull that saw him caught at backward square leg and reduced Australia to 190 for four. The short-ball ploy would be the theme of the day.
Green around the gills
Cameron Green took 16 balls to get off the mark and must have a sore back given the number of bouncers he ducked under. He managed 18 from 67 balls during a 42-run sixth-wicket stand with Alex Carey spanning 20 overs before, you guessed it, he fell hooking an Ollie Robinson short ball.
Stokes gets his reward
Ben Stokes ended a marathon 12-over spell with the wicket of Josh Hazlewood – Australia’s ninth. England’s captain would have had one two overs earlier, though, had he not overstepped for a no-ball when getting the better of his Aussie counterpart Pat Cummins.
One great leap for Rehan, several small hops for Lyon
Hazlewood’s wicket brought the sight of Nathan Lyon hobbling out to bat with a “significant calf strain”. Even more extraordinary was the sight of the crocked spinner hopping down the pitch for a single after Rehan Ahmed had made a stunning stop on the square leg boundary to stop a six from Mitchell Starc, the substitute fielder leaping over the rope and clawing the ball back to save five runs.
Root’s done
England really needed Joe Root, their most reliable batter, to be there at the close if they were to have any chance. Unfortunately he was removed by a brilliant ball from Cummins that reared up, took the glove and landed in the hands of David Warner at first slip. England, on 41 for three, were done.
It means the improbable is just about still on – just.
Yet it will surely require one of Stokes or Duckett to still be there at the end given that Jonny Bairstow is England’s last remaining recognised batter to come.
England’s hopes looked dead and buried when they were reduced to 45 for four in the 13th over of the chase.
Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope were both victims of a blistering opening spell from Starc that left England 13 for two after just 26 balls of their second innings.
Joe Root and Harry Brook then followed in the space of one unplayable over from Australia captain Pat Cummins.
At that stage thoughts of England repeating their successful pursuit of 378 against India at Edgbaston last summer were long gone as the Australians, looking for a first away Ashes series win since 2001, eyed up the win inside four days.
The current record chase at Lord’s was the 342 the West Indies eased to against England in 1984, finishing that Test 344 for one.
This team’s route to victory is far more hazardous, even if they may think the absence of heroic spinner Nathan Lyon from Australia’s attack will give them an advantage if they can take the chase deep into the final day.
Weirdly, Stokes’ men got themselves back into this match by going ultra-negative and adopting Australia’s short-ball tactics that had done for them in their own first innings.
Starting the day on 130 for two, a lead of 221, the hosts at least managed to keep their target to well below 400, with Australia managing to add just 148 in 56.1 overs.
In all, seven of the eight wickets that fell were to short-pitched deliveries, the two-paced Lord’s pitch making it awkward to trust the bounce on a day four pitch that was otherwise still true.
At one point during the afternoon session, Australia’s glacial scoring rate came to a virtual standstill, this Test entering a holding pattern as England seized on their opponents’ inability to cope with the bouncer barrage.
Yet as the wickets started to come, so did the drama, particularly the remarkable passage of play that saw Lyon limp out to bat on one leg with his team nine down and somehow help add 15 runs for the final wicket alongside Starc.
Having sustained a serious calf injury that has surely ruled him out of the rest of the series, Lyon, on crutches until he was helped down to the Lord’s Long Room as soon as his team had lost their eighth wicket, showed remarkable bravery.
The sight of him limping along for a single after Starc had been denied a boundary by some remarkable fielding from Rehan Ahmed was the image of the day.
As a way to sign off from this series, Lyon’s contribution to what still looks like being a winning cause will go down in Ashes folklore.
Player of the day: Nathan Lyon
The 35-year-old was on crutches until he limped out to bat. The fact he helped put on 15 runs for the last wicket, including a boundary of his own, justified Australia’s decision to send him out.
‘Jimmy Anderson asked if I was stupid – I said yes’
Nathan Lyon admits he’s unlikely to play again in this summer’s Ashes series after defying the pain of a torn calf muscle to bat on the fourth day of the second Test.
Lyon limped out up bat as Australia’s final second-innings wicket and helped Mitchell Starc add 15 runs to the total to set England 270 to win.
Australia’s star spinner, who injured his right calf fielding on day two at Lord’s, said: “I’ve got a decent tear in my right calf, that’s pretty obvious now. Regarding the series, I’ll sit down with the medical team tomorrow and we’ll have a chat about that. Right now it’s pretty shattering, I’m pretty gutted, pretty speechless.”
On his extraordinary innings, Lyon said: “I had to go down and wait down in the long room because I would have been timed out. The lifts here are pretty slow so I had to walk down the stairs, I didn’t know how long Josh Hazlewood was going to hang in there.
“I felt like I was in the zoo, all the eyes on me. I’ve played against Jimmy Anderson for a long time and got a lot of respect for him. He asked me if I’m stupid. I said yes. That was a nice little moment there with Jimmy.
“I’d been having conversations since it happened. I knew the risks but the way I look at it, I’d do anything for this team and you never know how big a 15-run partnership could be in an Ashes series. I’m proud of myself for going out and doing that, if it was tomorrow I’d do it again.
“I’ve been pretty shattered, I’ve been in tears I’ve been upset and been hurting. This team means everything to me. I’ll start this rehab journey now to get back, to keep playing this role. I love what I do.”
Quote of the day
“Stokes is on one leg, one knee, and I’m not sure his hamstring is that good either.”
Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook on BBC Test Match Special
Stat of the day
When Root caught Travis Head at short leg off Broad, Australia losing their fifth wicket, he claimed the record for the most catches by an England Test cricketer, his 176 beating the previous mark held by Sir Alastair Cook.
Bazball-o-meter: 2
Vast swathes of this day were anything but entertaining as Australia went ultra-defensive against England’s equally negative short-ball ploy. But the slow burn actually made it compelling viewing, especially when the hosts started batting. Unfortuntely, for England fans the slow burn went onto fast forward.
Tomorrow’s key battle: England vs the scoreboard
This is the only battle that counts for the hosts. Knock off the runs, if that’s possible, or make sure you don’t get bowled out. A draw – a dirty word in the Bazball era – would keep this series wide open.
