Ashes 2019 2nd Test, England vs Australia Day 3 preview: Early wickets in the day may decide Test

Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer bowled brilliantly with the new ball before stumps. Broad even got a breakthrough. But despite everything, a solitary wicket was all they managed after England were bowled out for 258. Australia will resume on Day 3 at Lord’s on 30/1 with Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja at the crease.

Asked to bat, England lost Jason Roy (caught at slip) and Joe Root (leg-before) early, both to Josh Hazlewood (3/58). Things looked difficult at 26/2, but Rory Burns (53) and Joe Denly (30) saw England through to lunch.

Pat Cummins (3/61) bowled a particularly hostile spell after lunch, bouncing batsmen, once hitting Burns on the helmet. Denly became Hazlewood’s third wicket after the pair added 66, while Bancroft pulled off a stunner at forward short leg to dismiss Burns off Cummins.

Then Peter Siddle had Jos Buttler caught behind and Nathan Lyon (3/68) trapped Ben Stokes leg-before, leaving England reeling at 138/6.

Jonny Bairstow (52) and Chris Woakes (30) then led the recovery, adding 72 for the seventh wicket. They ensured England never got into a shell, playing their shots freely. Then Cummins hit Woakes on the helmet before having him caught behind down leg.

Cummins also got debutant Archer with a short-pitched ball that found the leading edge, while Broad was clean bowled by Lyon. Bairstow went last, holing out to deep square-leg.

Then Broad brought one in from off-stump to take the leg bail, claiming David Warner’s wicket for the third time in three innings in the series, but Bancroft and Khawaja survived the remaining anxious moments.

Key players

Chris Woakes (England): 4 Tests, 24 wickets at 9.75, a wicket every 4 overs. There is little Woakes can do wrong at Lord’s. He might not have got the new ball ahead of Broad and Archer, but he will be more than a handful at his favourite hunting ground.

Steven Smith (Australia): Smith scored two hundreds at Edgbaston. Given his form – recent as well as over the past five years – he is the one Australia will expect to help them pile on runs and get a big lead. Remember, four years ago, in his last Test at Lord’s, he had got a double-hundred.

Brief scores:

England 258 (Rory Burns 53, Jonny Bairstow 52; Josh Hazlewood 3/58, Pat Cummins 3/61, Nathan Lyon 3/68) lead Australia 30/1 (Usman Khawaja 18*; Stuart Broad 1/13) by 228 runs.

Prediction

Smith to push Australia towards a big lead.