After the conclusion of the first test match, which was one to remember for the ages, the second test at Lord’s began with a lot of hopes for cricket fans all over the world as they wanted to have a series full of nail-biting test matches.
The second test has not lived up to expectations till now, as it is the visitors who are currently dominating the proceedings in London against a full-packed English crowd who are cheering for their team, which is trailing in this series as well as in the match.
The day began with Australia at 339/5 after 83 overs, and Steve Smith was 15 runs short of getting his name registered on the honour board. Anderson and Broad started the day for England, with Broad getting Carey in just the second over of the day. It then became a story of Smith holding one end and wickets falling from the other.
Smith completed his century in the process with a beautiful punch through the covers to James Anderson and raised his bat to acknowledge the applause from the crowd. The best red-ball batter in the world is back to normal and scoring centuries for fun, it seems.
He and Cummins had a small partnership, but Smith nicked one off Ashes debutant Josh Tongue, and Ben Duckett at gully took a sharp catch. Cummins played a handy innings of 22 runs, showcasing his improving batting prowess, as the Kangaroos ended with 416 runs on the board, which is a very good total batting first in a test match in England.
The English bowlers looked nowhere near their best, as the leader of all, James Anderson, was not effective at all. Robinson and Josh Tongue were a little bit impressive, taking three wickets apiece. England surely missed a frontline spinner in their ranks in the first innings.
The conditions are still very good for batting in this match, and England will need to bat carefully and sensibly rather than blindly following their Bazball approach. They are unscathed at Lunch as two big sessions await in this second Ashes test match.
