Ashes 2023: Ben Stokes' heroics fell short as Australia take a massive 2-0 lead at Lord's

Ashes 2023: Australia cruised to a famous victory as they defeated England by 43 runs in the second Test match at the Lord's Cricket Ground. Ben Stokes' heroics went in vain as the England skipper couldn't finish the job. Australia now have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five match test series.

3 things you need to know 

• Australia are currently 2-0 up in the series
• The Aussies are the defending champions of the Ashes
• Pat Cummins and Co. defeated Australia by 43 runs

Australia made England pay for their shoddy gameplay

The Aussies would be happy with how the game panned out for them. The visitors were put out to bat first by the host team as the England seamers thought of utilising the overcast conditions to inflict damage on the Australian batsmen.

Read More: Day 5 at Lord’s turn spicy as England & Australia continue battling for win amid chants of cheating

But the likes of David Warner and Usman Khawaja made merry on a surface made for the bowlers. Warner scored a healthy 66 before getting cleared by Josh Tongue with a peach of a delivery. Steve Smith once again showed why most bowlers feared him when he is on the song. Smith scored his 32nd Ton as he humiliated the English bowlers.

Australia piled up a massive 416 runs in the first inning and the host squandered a golden chance to take up a healthy lead. Despite some strong batting efforts from Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook the Three Lions failed to get into the groove and could manage only 325 runs handing out a massive advantage to their opponents. Stuart Broad ran through the Aussie batting lineup as Australia bowled out for a paltry 279 leaving England a massive 371 runs to chase. Khawaja scored a brilliant 77 run to help Australia garner a solid lead.

Jonny Bairstow's dismissal sparked controversy

England didn't have the desired start as they were struggling at 45 for 4 as the top order failed to do justice to their potential. But Ben Duckett stayed strong as he kept the hopes alive with a fighting 83. 

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Australia prised out overnight batter Ben Duckett for 83 and Jonny Bairstow for 10. Bairstow ran himself out but the crowd didn’t like the manner of it and accused the visitors in chants of cheating. The Australians were booed off at lunch, and one of them appeared to be verbally abused by a man in the Long Room.

Ben Stokes remained defiant and hit three consecutive sixes to Pat Cummins to complete his century. But the England skipper went out after a rash shot of Josh Hazlewood and it was a mere formality for the Aussie bowlers to finish the Test in a stand-out manner.

(With Inputs from AP)