England were left needing to rewrite cricket’s record books after being set a mammoth 509 to win by Australia on the fourth day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s in London yesterday.
At lunch, England were 7-0, Adam Lyth 2 not out and captain Alastair Cook 5 not out, after Australia skipper Michael Clarke had declared his side’s second innings on 254-2.
No side have made more in the fourth innings to win a Test than the West Indies’ 418-7 against Australia in St John’s in 2002-2003.
Photo: Reuters
The highest fourth-innings total to win a Test at Lord’s came when the West Indies made 344-1 against England in 1984 on the back of opener Gordon Greenidge’s unbeaten 214 and Larry Gomes’s 92 not out.
England’s corresponding record is the 332-7 compiled to beat Australia in Melbourne back in 1928-1929, when legendary opener Herbert Sutcliffe made 135.
“We spoke briefly in the changing room there at the end and we’ve got to get our heads round the fact we’re probably going to have to bat 150 overs to try to save the game,” all-rounder Ben Stokes said after stumps on Saturday.
However, yesterday morning’s play was overshadowed not by records, but by the concerning sight of Australia opener Chris Rogers leaving the field due to a dizzy spell.
Rogers, who in the first innings of the match scored a Test-best 173, had added five run to his overnight 44 not out when, after two overs’ play, he crouched down by the side of the pitch and then sat motionless.
He then received several minutes’ on-field treatment, before walking off unbeaten on 49, with Australia 114-0.
A team spokeswoman said the left-handed batsman, who had shown no signs of illness before play started yesterday, was still at Lord’s.
The 37-year-old Rogers, who has said he plans to retire after the Ashes, missed Australia’s recent 2-0 series win in the Caribbean with concussion after being hit on the head while batting in the nets and Friday saw Rogers struck on the helmet by James Anderson during his marathon first innings.
Rogers’ fellow left-handed opener David Warner, dropped on nought by Adam Lyth in the gully on Saturday, started yesterday on 60 not out.
Warner was missed again, on 66, when a leaping Joe Root at short extra-cover could only get fingertips to a mistimed pull off Mark Wood, but with a coveted century at Lord’s his for the taking, Warner fell on 83 when he drove Moeen Ali to Cook at short extra-cover.
Steven Smith, who made a Test-best 215 in Australia’s first innings 566-8 declared, had come in when Rogers retired.
With complete freedom to hit out, the audacious Smith several times stepped well outside off-stump to flick deliveries leg-side during the course of a 48-ball 58 that featured nine fours.
Smith was eventually bowled swinging at off-spinner Ali, the only member of England’s attack to take wickets in the innings.
Clarke (32 not out) and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh (27 not out) added further runs before the captain, looking to lead his side to a series-leveling win after England’s 169-run victory in the first Test in Cardiff last week, called a halt.
When England started their second innings, there were a minimum of 155 overs left in the match.
Only eight sides have survived for more than the equivalent of 150 six-ball overs to draw a match in the 138-year history of Test cricket.
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