Lord’s, July 17:
Michael Clarke declared Australia’s innings closed after just one over of the final session on the second day at Lord’s. Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc added four runs to the total before Johnson holed out to mid-off from the final ball of the over to give Stuart Broad his fourth wicket and leave the score at 566 for 8, which prompted Clarke to call his men in.
Earlier, it took a line-ball lbw on a reverse-sweep to prise Steven Smith off the friendly Lord’s batting surface, but not before Smith had scored his maiden double-century and pushed Australia past 500 and into seriously imposing territory. Unlike on the first day, England claimed wickets – plural – on day two of the second Investec Ashes Test, but it is now their batsmen who matter most.
Smith and Chris Rogers showed during their 284-run partnership, an Australian record for any wicket at Lord’s, that once set this is a beautiful pitch on which to bat. Rogers missed the chance for a double-hundred but Smith did not, the frustration of being dismissed for 199 in Kingston last month no doubt in the back of his mind. A Smith Test 200 was only a matter of time.
His milestone came with a whip off the pads for four off Moeen Ali from his 335th delivery, and it made Smith the first Australian since Jason Gillespie in Bangladesh in 2006 to score a Test double-century away from home. It also made him the first Australian to post an Ashes 200 since Justin Langer at the MCG during the 2002 Boxing Day Test.
Smith eventually fell for 215, struck on the pad when he tried to reverse sweep Joe Root. Smith asked for a review of Kumar Dharmasena’s out decision and the ball-tracking showed the tiniest fraction of the ball had struck Smith in line with off stump, which allowed the decision to stand. By tea, the total was 562 for 7, with Johnson on 12 and Starc on 11.
Broad was the best of the England bowlers and finished with figures of 4 for 83, including the wickets of Adam Voges and Mitchell Marsh in the middle session. Voges had struck five boundaries in a breezy 25 before he edged behind a lovely legcutter from Broad, and Marsh began with a cover-driven boundary but soon had played on for 12.
Debutant wicketkeeper Peter Nevill then provided solid support from Smith and managed five boundaries in his 45 from 59 balls, his brisk approach untempered by debut nerves. Nevill missed out on the chance to score a half-century in his first Test innings when he drove Root to Moeen Ali at mid-on, but Starc and Johnson carried on frustrating England. The Australians had added 138 in the middle session for the loss of four wickets, after Smith had played cautiously in the opening session on day two.(Agencies)
There had been action from the first ball of the morning, when Rogers ducked into a James Anderson bouncer and was struck on the side of the helmet, a worrying sight given that Rogers missed both Tests in the Caribbean last month due to the effects of concussion. However, he batted on and 15 to his overnight score before he played on for 173 to give Broad his first victim.
The Rogers-Smith partnership ended at 284, an Australian record for all wickets in Lord’s Tests, having passed the 260 set by openers Michael Slater and Mark Taylor in 1993. Clarke must have walked to the crease expecting the conditions to be easy to master, but he found it difficult to beat the field and ground out 7 from 32 balls before he pulled Mark Wood to square leg.
Smith went to lunch having added only 39 in the session, including a drive down the ground for four off Ben Stokes that took Smith past 150 from his 265th delivery. But his scoring rate picked up after the break, when he joined Don Bradman and Bill Brown as the only Australians to have scored Test double-centuries at Lord’s. (Agencies)
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