Australia were in a strong position overnight and they extended their dominion over their British counterparts today. Rogers and Smith began the day cautiously and went on to add to their scores. While Rogers was bowled by Stuart Broad at 173, Steve Smith, went on to score a double hundred. He is the first Australian to score a double hundred at Lords since Don Bradman in 1938. Phew! Smith is going places and this year is surely his.
He was finally dismissed leg before wicket by Joe Root who has been having a horrifying match so far. Adam Voges came in and struck a few boundaries but it was Peter Neville that grabbed attention. He was a replacement to Brad Haddin and scored a quickfire 45. Finally, Michael Clarke decided it was time that England batsmen face some chin music from Johnson and Starc. Australia declared their first innings at 566for 8.
Adam Lyth and Alastair Cook stepped out with their tasks cut. A mammoth first innings total by Australia meant that England had to bat them out to save this match. Winning was a very distant dream. Now two balls in Adam Lyth was sent back by Starc. On the other Mitchell Johnson, who looked out of sorts in the first test, came back with a strong reply and lived upto his reputation of the most fearsome bowler at present. He first castled Gary Ballence and then removed Joe Root with some smart piece of bowling. Ian Bell hasn’t performed in a while and he continued to do so today as well. He was dismissed for 1 by Josh Hazlewood. The only redemption for England during the day was Ben Stokes. Stokes took the attack to the bowlers and accumulated 38 runs at the end of play. He and Cook will have an uphill task to save England from possible annihilation at the hands of the Kangaroos.
Whichever side you support, its safe to assume that the battle at Lords has been decided.
