England and Australia meet in the 2nd Ashes Test at Lord’s on Wednesday and the home team will be desperate to level the Series having lost the opener at Edgbaston.
England Captain, Ben Stokes called for a flat wicket and he certainly got one in the 1st Test. It was advantage England as they won the toss and decided to bat eventually declaring on the 1st day 393 for 8. Joe Root top scored with a 118 and Zak Crawley got 61 at the top of the order with Bairstow coming in with 78 at a run a ball towards the end of the innings. Nathan Lyon was the stand out Australian Bowler with 4 for 149 in 29 overs.
Australia were bowled out for 386 in reply with the rock of the innings been Usman Khawaja with his 141 at a patient strike rate of 43 and there was also a 50 from Head and Carey. For England, Broad and Robinson got 3 wickets each.
England scored 273 in their 2nd innings with most of their batsmen getting going, but none getting over the 50 mark. The Australian attack was well led by Captain, Pat Cummins who got 4 for 63 and Lyon came in with 4 for 80.
The Australian run chase started well, but they slumped from 61 without loss to 143 for 5. Khawaja was once again the anchor of the innings scoring 65 runs, but it was left to Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to put on 54 for the 9th wicket to lead Australia to what had looked an unlikely victory as they finished on 282 for 8. Broad was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 64.
England’s last match at Lord’s was against Ireland earlier in June and they won the game by 10 wickets. The last time these sides met at Lord’s was in 2019 where the match finished in a draw. Prior to the Edgbaston loss to Australia, England had won 8 out of 9 Test Matches when playing at home against all opposition.
Series Betting – Click here to bet
Australia 5/10, England 3/1 and the draw 13/2
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2nd Test Betting – Click here to bet
England 31/20
Draw 4/1
Australia 11/10
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I was on Australia in the 1st Test and it was one of those games where every time they got their head in front they would lose the initiative and England would seemingly be in control. They got the job done though and my initial thought was that England would bounce back and win the 2nd Test, but the more I think about it the more I believe England may have missed their opportunity.
Two of Australia’s big guns in Smith and Labuschagne failed with the bat and that is unlikely to happen twice in a row. Some of my initial thinking in backing Australia for the 1st Test was that I felt England’s attack were generally a bit long in the tooth and there was certainly signs that Anderson in particular is far from his best. I am going to go with Australia to make it 2-0.
Suggested Bet: Australia win at 11/10
I was impressed by the line and length of Scott Boland in the 1st Test and the conditions are likely to suit his style a bit more at Lord’s. I am going to back him to be the Top Australian wicket taker in the first innings.
Suggested Bet: First Innings, Australia Top Bowler, Scott Boland at 27/10
One batsman that did impress me in the first and second innings for England was Joe Root and I am going to back him to score a 50 in their first innings.
Suggested Bet: First Innings, Joe Root to score 50, YES, at 31/20
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
