Australia v England, second Ashes Test at Lord's: David Warner fails again, England's worrying batting collapse
Australia’s fast start to the second Ashes test was slowed by Jonny Bairstow’s half-century that pushed England to 258 all out and the latest cheap dismissal of David Warner early in the reply at Lord’s.
David Warner’s nightmare return to Test cricket has put the one-time dynamo in the crosshairs after a Lord’s failure undid a day of brilliant bowling from his Australian teammates.
Bowled by Stuart Broad for three runs late in the day, Warner took his run tally to a mere 13 in this Ashes campaign, having lasted just 39 balls in three innings after two single figure efforts in the first Test at Edgbaston.
The 32-year-old, who was a powerhouse in the World Cup after his 12 month ban, was out to Broad for the third straight time. His pursuit of a first-ever hundred in England will have to go behind the pursuit of a double-figure score in the series.
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Warner and fellow opener Cameron Bancroft had an hour to bat after Australia rolled England for 258 following a bold decision from captain Tim Paine to bowl when he won the day-two toss.
Left by his partner, Bancroft (five not out) survived a withering first spell in Test cricket from Jofra Archer and with a scratchy Usman Khawaja (18 not out) and took Australia to 1-30 at stumps
A shortened match was key to the aggressive decision to bowl first knowing the only way to win, and go up 2-0, was to take 20 English wickets, a job made easier if they got to work at that first.
Josh Hazlewood was impeccable from the outset and took the first three English wickets including opener Jason Roy with just his third ball having been re-inserted in to the team at the expense of James Pattinson.
Roy, who could struggle to see out the series, wafted at his first ball, played and missed his second, then edged the third to Paine behind the stumps.
England was 3-96 when Hazelwood dismissed Joe Denly with a perfect delivery after lunch and the home team could have been in all sorts if not for two dropped catches, both off the bowling of Peter Siddle.
But England’s luck didn’t last and they were 6-138 when both Pat Cummins (3-61) and Nathan Lyon (3-68) got on the action.
Lyon equaled Australian legend Dennis Lillee with 355 Test wickets when he had England’s last hope Jonny Bairstow caught on the boundary,
Cummins was as brutal as Hazlewood was brilliant too, bowling a menacing spell of short stuff that saw him ram one in to helmet of Chris Woakes, having earlier rattled opener Rory Burns.England's top six average of 26.07 runs-per-dismissal in Test cricket this year is it’s worst since 1950.
They collapsed despite stats from CricViz revealing the Australians produced the least amount of swing in the first 20 overs of a Lord’s Test for more than a decade.
The pitch was slower than expected too, with several edges failing to carry to the slips.
But having taken the risk to bowl first and with next to no help from the pitch, the Australians put themselves in a position to attack with the wicket likely to be better for batting on day three.
AUSTRALIA NOT SATISFIED DESPITE STRONG START
Good but not great was the post-day summation from the Australian dressing room at Lord’s after a day when they seized the momentum in the second Ashes Test.
But having rocked the England top order, which collapsed to 6-138, the eventual total for the home team of 258 was a result of not being good enough for long enough according to Nathan Lyon.
The star spinner took three of the 10 English wickets to fall, after captain Tim Paine opted to bowl first, with Josh Hazlewood’s three early ones and persistent excellence making him the clear pick of the attack.
Still 228 runs behind however, and with David Warner already out, Lyon said there was “plenty of work to do”.
“I think if you look at today I don’t think we have had the best day, if I am being brutally honest,” Lyon said.
“Josh Hazlewood was absolutely exceptional and the spell from Pat Cummins after tea really set the tone for us.
“For our standards I don’t think we were good enough for long periods of time. In saying that it’s still a good day for Australia, we’ve won the toss, we’ve created more than 10 chances … we can get better and that’s exciting.”
Lyon said Cameron Bancroft’s grit to get to through the final hour after a full day in the field was the sort of effort the entire batting line-up would need to produce to push Australia in to a winning position.
Bancroft also took what Rory Burns called the “second best catch at short leg” he’d ever seen when he dismissed the English opener with a double-grabber, which could also serve as a confidence builder for his batting.
“I think that's one of the hardest times you'll have to bat as an opening batter,” Lyon said.
"It's not a nice job, I can't imagine when you've got 40 minutes to bat against a world-class bowling attack at Lord's, at 6.30 at night.
“I think it was an outstanding day for Cameron. He showed a lot of character and a lot of grit there.
"It's going to be challenging but fingers crossed, all our batters can dig deep.
"If we can bat with a couple of big partnerships and bat a long period of time, then hopefully we can get in a decent position."
Rain is forecast for Friday afternoon and with just three days to go every over will be needed for either team to get a result.
Originally published as Australia v England, second Ashes Test at Lord's: David Warner fails again, England's worrying batting collapse
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