Mitchell Johnson led Australia’s attack as they thrashed England by 405 runs to win the second Ashes Test at Lord’s in London on Sunday to level the five-match series at 1-1.
England, set what would have been a new fourth-innings record of 509 for victory, collapsed to 103 all out after tea on the fourth day.
Left-arm fast bowler Johnson took three for 27 as England were dismissed in a mere 37 overs.
Photo: AP
It was only the ninth time in the 138-year history of Test cricket a side had won by more than 400 runs.
It was also Australia’s third-highest margin of victory over England in terms of the number of runs following wins by 562 runs at The Oval in 1934 and 409 runs at Lord’s in 1948 in teams which boasted batting great Don Bradman.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better performance,” Australia captain Michael Clarke said. “The intent from our batsmen through the second innings was great and the execution from the bowlers was spot on.”
Australia’s fast bowlers are appreciably quicker than their England counterparts and sheer pace was responsible for several wickets as the hosts suffered the latest in a long line of top-order slumps.
“To not back up our win at Cardiff is incredibly frustrating,” England captain Alastair Cook said. “Over the last few games, we have been three down for 40-odd and that is an area of concern.”
After Australia declared their second innings on 254-2, it meant England had to top the highest fourth-innings total to win a Test — the West Indies’ 418-7 against Australia at St John’s in 2002-2003 — if they were to go 2-0 up.
The more realistic if still difficult task for England, 1-0 ahead in the five-match series after their 169-run win in the first Test in Cardiff, was to bat out the remaining 155 overs left in the match to secure a draw, but just seeing out Sunday’s play proved far beyond England as for the third straight series they were unable to win two Tests in a row.
Opener Adam Lyth, out for a duck in the first innings, could only manage 7 on Sunday before pushing at a lifting ball from Mitchell Starc and being caught behind by debutant wicketkeeper Peter Nevill.
Cook, who batted for nearly six hours during his 96 in the first innings, had the temperament required for the situation, but his technique deserted him when he tried to cut Johnson’s fourth ball of the innings without moving his feet and was caught behind for 11.
Mitchell Marsh, who replaced the dropped Shane Watson for the match, struck first ball on Sunday when he had the struggling Gary Ballance caught behind.
Ian Bell could have been out twice before, on 11, he gave a bat-pad catch to substitute Shaun Marsh at short-leg off spinner Nathan Lyon. England were in dire straits at 48-4.
The last thing England needed was a run-out, but that is what they got when Ben Stokes, who made 87 in the first innings, fell for a duck when he failed to beat Johnson’s powerful throw from midwicket.
England, 64-5 at tea, lost their sixth wicket to the first ball after the break when Jos Buttler was caught behind off Johnson.
Four balls later they were 64-7 when Moeen Ali fell for a duck when he fended a lifting Johnson ball to short-leg.
Stuart Broad hit out in an innings top score of 25 before falling to Lyon and the match ended when paceman Josh Hazlewood ripped through James Anderson’s defenses to bowl England’s last man for a duck.
Earlier, Australia took their overnight 108-0 to 254-2 before captain Michael Clarke declared shortly before lunch.
The only concern for Australia was when opener Chris Rogers, who made a Test-best 173 in the first innings, retired hurt following a dizzy spell just two overs into the day’s play.
However, he was later seen watching the match from Australia’s dressing room balcony.
Steven Smith was named man of the match for his Test-best 215 in Australia’s first innings 566-8 declared.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS