How long do you need to chase down 371? 85 overs? 75? Or less? We are talking England mind you, not the rest of the world still hanging on to their coattails. The average fourth innings run rate this year has been 3.48 but England have been going about it at 3.54 runs per over. The psychological barrier however is 378/5, England’s highest fourth-innings score in a victory since June, 2022 when they went “Bazball”.
That Edgbaston Test, on a rather abrasive surface against an India attack comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja, England won in 76.4 overs going at a run rate of 4.93. Australia bowlers are equally skilled, a couple of clicks quicker, but also without Nathan Lyon. Still, they have already bagged four wickets. Not casting doubts on England’s ability which really starts to show No.4 onwards, but there is a higher probability of Australia producing six wicket-taking balls from here than England winning the Lord's Test.
How did it come to this? A bouncer, unsurprisingly, was the curtain raiser to Bazball’s doomsday. Joe Root, enforcer and anchor of England in the last Test, was surprised by a ferocious Pat Cummins bouncer that reared up from back of length and took his edge to David Warner at first slip. Two balls later, Harry Brook was pulled down to earth with a peach of a delivery that straightened on pitching to square him up and take the top of off-stump. Taking nothing away from Mitchell Starc who had flattened Ollie Pope’s stumps with an in-swinging screamer after getting Zak Crawley to edge a strangler down leg, that was the over Australia must have driven home the fact that not always could England get away with their bullish take on cricket.
Still, that wasn’t the passage of play to turn the match on its head. It came much earlier, almost unnoticed, when Australia were seeking to play out time. Steve Smith was dismissed by then, picking Crawley at backward square off a slow Josh Tongue bouncer. Travis Head too was sent back in the space of 29 balls, scooping Stuart Broad to Root at short-leg. This was the time England had started to see light at the end of the tunnel but then came a resistance spanning 20 overs. England, of course, will have a different take on this because they conceded just 42 runs during this phase. But what mattered more was the intent shown by Alex Carey and Cameron Green in just leaving the bouncers and wear out Australia.
{{/usCountry}}Still, that wasn’t the passage of play to turn the match on its head. It came much earlier, almost unnoticed, when Australia were seeking to play out time. Steve Smith was dismissed by then, picking Crawley at backward square off a slow Josh Tongue bouncer. Travis Head too was sent back in the space of 29 balls, scooping Stuart Broad to Root at short-leg. This was the time England had started to see light at the end of the tunnel but then came a resistance spanning 20 overs. England, of course, will have a different take on this because they conceded just 42 runs during this phase. But what mattered more was the intent shown by Alex Carey and Cameron Green in just leaving the bouncers and wear out Australia.
{{/usCountry}}Like Australia, England too decided to become unimaginative and bowl 98% of their deliveries short. But Carey and Green refused to play ball, frustrating England. Bouncers cramp the batter. The scoring options reduce drastically as a result. Back of the length balls, or even a touch shorter, might warrant the pull. Even shorter, and very few can execute the hook as well as it needs to be on an aspherical ground like Lord’s, not to mention how the lack of pace off the pitch almost always tends to give off a leading edge. Caught at fine-leg, short-leg or bounced out, the sameness of Australia’s dismissals was almost boring. Only Carey and Green brought the fight to Australians by not succumbing to their strategy quickly enough.
Twenty overs is a long time, nearly two hours, almost two-thirds of a session. By playing out time, Australia not only boosted their innings but also ensured England were given a shorter time to chase. So committed were Australia to just making England sweat that even Nathan Lyon agreed to hobble on to the ground and pull Broad wide of deep square leg for a four before slicing Stokes at square-leg. Australia now have batted more than 100 overs in both innings.
But compared to 416, they scored only 279 in the second essay. England, of course, will harbour a different take that they had been successful in plugging Australia’s scoring areas. Australia’s fuller lengths, however, quickly changed the narrative as England lost wickets on the bounce. It could have been five down, had it not been for the shocking reversal of Ben Duckett’s dismissal after the third umpire ruled Starc was not in control of his catch at fine-leg. But England still need nothing short of a miracle to pull off a win from here.