There was some hope for England because of Root’s double-wicket surge in the end and Tongue’s two wickets
Australia secured the first-day match at Lord’s thanks to Steven Smith and Travis Head, but the scoreboard was not nearly as bad for England as it had looked likely just before the end until Joe Root took a double-wicket over following a fairly lackluster performance from the host team.
Even though it was only the sixth day of the series, it seemed like Australia was moving closer to securing a stranglehold on the Ashes as Steve Smith and Head combined to score 118 runs in just over 20 overs for the fourth wicket. The final score of 339 for 5 could yet turn out to be the deciding factor, but England was holding on.
Head scored 77 runs off 73 balls, playing in the manner that has become his signature, and caught up to Smith, who had 43 runs to his credit when he joined him at the crease. However, after knocking Root to the ground, he was unable to stop trying again, and this time he was comprehensively defeated, though Nathan Lyon will have taken notice of the turn offered.
Australia’s progress was in danger of dissolving when, two balls later, Cameron Green put Root to mid-off with a shot that was wildly out of character for him.
On the same field where Jofra Archer knocked him out and concussed him four years earlier, Smith remained unmoved and was approaching Test century No. 32. It was predictable that he and Marnus Labuschagne would not be inactive for two consecutive tests.
Under slate-gray skies that appeared to be designed for bowling, David Warner, riding a little bit of luck along the way, had helped build the early groundwork even if the playing field itself was far less green than it had been in the days before the match.
When he left just after midday, England threatened to respond with a fantastic over from the returned Josh Tongue, but Smith and Labuschagne, then Smith and Head, stopped them before Root’s late incisions.
Ben Stokes was glad to insert Australia on a cloudy morning where a light drizzle and a pitch invasion by Just Stop Oil protestors, who required the removal of orange powder from the square, caused a few delays, but England failed to take advantage of the circumstances. Similar to Edgbaston, catching, this time from the slip cordon, was a major factor.
Usman Khawaja, on 1, survived a first slip with a low edge that just made it to Root. Then, with 20 on the board, Ollie Pope missed a much more obvious opportunity at fourth from Warner off Stuart Broad. 16th dismissal was unsuccessful. After diving to intercept a ball, Pope later spent the majority of the day off the field recovering from a shoulder injury.
Australia had weathered the early window, albeit with a little bit of luck, as they were 39 for 0 after 17 overs, despite the fact that they did not originally run away with the scoring. Warner had shown no fear in attempting the unusual, twice stepping outside off stump to successfully sweep Broad. The first of these strokes resulted in smiles from both the hitter and the bowler.
Australia had weathered the early window, albeit with a little bit of luck, as they were 39 for 0 after 17 overs, despite the fact that they did not originally run away with the scoring.
Warner had shown no fear in attempting the unusual, twice stepping outside off stump to successfully sweep Broad. The first of these strokes resulted in smiles from both the hitter and the bowler.
Khawaja scored less frequently than Warner, who this time around reached his 2019 Ashes total in three innings, and it looked like the two would lead Australia to victory at lunch. However, Tongue pulled one back down the slope, and Khawaja made a terrible judgment call by leaving it alone after his first three overs had cost 24, including a hooked six by Warner to reach fifty.
Following the break, Tongue outplayed Warner in an over during which he created an inside edge that just missed the stumps, cut him in half with a delivery that went for four byes, and then bowled one a little bit fuller to completely destroy the middle and leg stumps. Warner, however, has taken sufficient action to guarantee that he wins the remaining Ashes and probably the Sydney farewell he has planned.
Although not looking exactly at his best after going 0 for 13 at Edgbaston, Labuschagne did not have to front up to Broad right away because he had already faced 29 balls by the time Broad was introduced.
Smith, who started by hitting two consecutive goals before being called for a caught behind call, added drama to Broad’s comeback over since the DRS revealed there was space between the bat and the ball.
As the scoreboard dropped along, Labuschagne began to find his rhythm with three boundaries in an over from Broad and another brace off Stokes. After being ruled lbw when shouldering arms to Broad against a ball that nipped down the slope but was later seen to be traveling over off stump, he too used the DRS. A review was used by England against Labuschagne two overs later, but the ball had already been trapped off the inside edge.
Ollie Robinson found Labuschagne’s outside edge just after tea, giving England a chance as the partnership had just passed 100. But because they mishandled Head’s passes, he got off to a fast start, dispatching two short, wide shots from Robinson through the off side.
Head was at a run-a-ball in the blink of an eye, and while the ball occasionally went by his outside edge, there was enough crunched out of the middle thanks to some of his exceptional timing via the leg side.
Smith was content to follow Head’s slipstream as he reached fifty in 102 balls, becoming the second-fastest player to 9000 Test runs. This was similar to how he felt during the World Test Championship final against India.
The fastest member of England’s attack, Tongue, was temporarily utilized in a short-pitched strategy against Head with the field widely dispersed, but he negotiated the leg side gap to reach fifty from 48 balls.
Before his misfortune being brought on by his adventurous spirit, he was poised to match his performance at the Gabba, where he struck a century in the final session of the day. Smith and Alex Carey handled the last few overs, including two against the second new ball, but even though Australia is still in sight, England is now lagging behind.