Finally, as Mitchell Starc sent in a thunderbolt on the stumps and floored the leg-stump as Josh Tongue moved on the leg-side, Australia gained a 2-0 lead in the Ashes 2023 series. This is for the first time since 2001 that Australia have won two consecutive Test matches in an away Ashes in England.
And, having won the WTC Final 2023, they are on their way to have their most glorious English summer in 22 years, with one more victory needed in the remainder of the three Tests.
A victory by 43 runs at Lord’s was tight and hardly fought. It was made such a way by England’s biggest clutch player – Ben Stokes, who rekindled the memories of the heist in Headingley from the 2019 Ashes. In the chase of 371, England found themselves reeling at 45/4 which then turned into 193/6 in the first session of Day 5.
After that Ben Stokes teed off in a spectacular manner against the Aussie pacers, taking a big toll on the legside boundary. Stokes smashed 155 runs with the help of 9 fours and 9 sixes. However, he got out trying to hit Josh Hazlewood and loss was inevitable after that. England were behind in the game throughout the five days. And had to pay for their mistakes before Day 5.
Here are 2 big mistakes made by England in the Ashes 2023 Lord’s Test loss:
Dull bowling on Day 1 hurt England
Stokes had won a crucial toss and inserted Australia in to bat under overcast skies, cloudy conditions and plenty of green on the pitch. However, his bowlers weren’t up to the mark on Day 1 and the command of the game slipped on the first day itself.
Warner cracked 66 runs in 88 balls to set the tone before Steve Smith hit his 32nd Test century. At the end of Day 1, England were 339/5. England’s bowling was dull, uninspiring, and not up to the mark. They even dropped a couple of catches, adding salt to injury.
Not utilizing helpful bowling conditions on Day 1 went a long way in hurting England in their Lord’s Test loss.
Batting hierarchy by England batters in first innings
The England batters showed zero sense of the game when they went down swinging against the bouncer barage from the Australian pacers in the first innings. As many as five batters got out trying to smash a short ball.
With Nathan Lyon out of the match due to injury, all the England batters needed to do was avoid batting recklessly, which they didn’t, to tire out the pacers, which would have helped them in the second innings chase as well. But, no, the passion of Bazball is in their heads and they got out recklessly hitting the short balls. England collapsed from 188/1 to 325 all-out. As they review their performance, their batting in the first innings would be something they would come to rue.
