Australia overcame Ben Stokes’ onslaught to register a convincing 43-run victory over England in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s on Sunday (July 2).
Chasing 371 to win, the Three Lions were reeling at 45/4 before opener Ben Duckett and skipper Stokes added 132 runs for the fifth wicket to bail the team out of trouble.
After Duckett’s dismissal on 83, Stokes waged a lone battle for England as he smashed 155 off 214 balls to keep the home team’s hopes alive.
However, once Stokes was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood in the 73rd over, Australia wrapped England’s tail in a jiffy to bundle them out for 327.
After the game, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins admitted that his team was nervous when Stokes was going all guns blazing but they stayed patient to seal the second Test.
"Another wonderful game, right down to the wire. Stokesy gave us a few heart-stopping moments and the crowd seemed to enjoy it," Cummins said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Cummins was of the 2019 Ashes test at Headingley when Stokes slammed 135 not out to script England’s narrow one-wicket victory over Australia.
"Of course, he played another great innings and I'm glad we got him out when we did," Cummins stated. "Having a world-class player like Ben on the top of his game, you start thinking 'that boundary looks short' - I was glad to have 200 on the board."
Stokes struck nine fours and as many sixes in his knock but Cummins said Australia had not panicked.
"Just trying to stay patient, have the fields out," he said. "He did well to keep getting himself on strike but we were happy with them going at two an over."
The final day's play at Lord's witnessed some drama as England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow was stumped by his counterpart Alex Carey when he wandered out of his crease after ducking a Cameron Green bouncer.
Subsequently, Cummins and his men were booed by the crowd at the Home of Cricket while some Australian players were also confronted by the MCC Members in Lord’s long room.
Following the incident, MCC apologized to the Australian men's cricket team and Cummins accepted the apology.
"They were quite aggressive and abusive towards some of our players, which I know the MCC weren't too happy with," Cummins said. "The MCC came and apologised for the behaviour of some of the members."
Having won the first two Tests, Australia are leading the five-match series 2-0. They need to avoid defeat in one of the remaining three Tests to retain the Ashes. "We couldn't be in a better position," Cummins said.
The third Test will be played at Headingley from July 6.
(With Reuters Inputs)
