Ben Duckett led England’s response with 98 as the hosts fought back with the bat against Australia on day two of the second men’s Ashes Test at Lord’s.
The Australians were eventually dismissed for 416 on the morning of day two, with Steve Smith going on to make 110 before becoming Josh Tongue’s third victim of their first innings. England openers Zak Crawley and Duckett then saw the hosts through to 13-0 at lunch.
The pair went on to compile an opening stand of 91 before Crawley was stumped off Nathan Lyon’s bowling two runs shy of his half-century, but Duckett went on to pass that milestone before tea only to fall agonisingly short of what would have been his third Test ton.
Another half-century partnership between Harry Brook (45 not out) and Ben Stokes (17 not out) then helped England to 278-4 at the close, trailing by 138 runs. Meanwhile, Australia were left waiting on the fitness of spinner Lyon, who was helped from the field after he pulled up with a calf injury in the evening session.
Smith makes century, but a better morning for England
Former Australia captain Smith carried on where he had left off on day one after resuming on 85 not out, bringing up his 32nd Test century with a sumptuous cover drive which raced away to the boundary for four in the eighth over of the day.
By that point though, the tourists had already lost two further wickets as Stuart Broad and James Anderson made early inroads with the new ball. Broad trapped Alex Carey lbw for 11 after a successful DRS referral, while Anderson had Mitchell Starc (six) caught behind by Jonny Bairstow.
The introduction of Tongue precipitated the end of Australia’s innings and it was the 25-year-old who got the key wicket of Smith, tempting him into edging one to gully fielder Duckett to depart in the 96th over and finishing with figures of 3-98.
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Watch the best bits from Steve Smith’s century during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
Lyon and Pat Cummins saw Australia past the 400 mark, but Ollie Robinson soon mopped up the tail by getting Lyon out for seven from a short ball hooked to Tongue at fine leg, followed by Josh Hazlewood (four) edging the Sussex bowler to Joe Root in the slips to bring the innings to an end with around half an hour left of the morning session.
Crawley and Duckett made a steady start to England’s reply and saw the home side through to lunch without loss, and the former began to open up in the first half-hour of the afternoon session after finding the boundary three times.
The duo’s stand was ended, however, with Crawley on 48. The right-hander tried to come down the wicket to Lyon, but missed and became the spinner’s 496th Test victim when the ever-alert Carey whipped off the bails to deny him a 10th Test half-century.
Short ball causes problems for England batters | Australia wait on Lyon
Nottinghamshire batter Duckett kept on course though, seeing England through to 145-1 at tea after being joined by Ollie Pope, with the duo compiling a 97-run partnership for the second wicket before the latter was dismissed for 42 nine overs into the evening session.
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Joe Root survives a dismissal after Cameron Green delivers another no-ball, his fifth of the innings.
Pope’s demise came about when he went after a shorter delivery off Cameron Green but only succeeded in finding Smith on the square-leg boundary. Green then thought he had Joe Root caught behind for one just three balls later, only for the new batter to be reprieved by a no-ball call.
The short ball accounted for Duckett four overs later as well, this time off Hazlewood as the left-hander top-edged to David Warner at fine leg, and Starc then got Root in a similar manner for his first wicket of the game, tempting the Yorkshireman into pulling to Smith for 10.
The ever-attacking Brook showed no intent of reining his instincts in, though, skipping along at a strike rate of 88.23 as he ended the day unbeaten and set to resume on day three just five runs away from a fourth half-century in Test cricket.
Instead, it was Stokes who provided the moderating influence at the other end following that brief flurry of wickets: the skipper helped see his team through to the close without any further departures, leaving the match finely poised.
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Ben Duckett is dismissed just two runs shy of his Test century after he top edges a pull shot straight to David Warner.
Australia were, however, left sweating on the fitness of Lyon. He was forced off after suffering a right calf injury while fielding in his 100th consecutive Test, with Travis Head taking over the spin bowling responsibilities.
Lyon was due to be assessed at the close, with no update expected until Friday morning at the earliest.
Watch day three of the second men’s Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Cricket. Coverage begins from Lord’s at 10.15am, with the first ball at 11am. Also stream on NOW TV.