Ashes 2023: England commit the same mistakes against Australia as India in WTC 2023 Final

The England vs Australia second Test match of the Ashes 2023 series ended in dramatic fashion on Sunday after five action-filled days of Test cricket. Chasing over 250 runs on Day 5 at the Lord’s, captain Ben Stokes provided England hope for a win with his knock of 155 runs. However, England were bowled out for 327 runs and lost the match by 43 runs.

3 Things You Need To Know

• Ahead of the match, England won the toss and opted to bowl first at Lord’s
• The move backfired on England as the Aussies scored 416 runs in the 1st innings
• England’s loss in the 2nd Ashes Test was similar to that of India’s in the WTC 2023 final

ALSO READ | WATCH: Jonny Bairstow Is Left Shell-shocked As Carey Displays Incredible Presence Of Mind

Pat Cummins leads Australia to win in the 2nd Ashes Test as Bazball fails again

As Pat Cummins and co. won the second Test of the Ashes 2023, England’s loss was soon compared to that of Team India in the ICC World Test Championships 2023 final last month. Chasing a mammoth target of 444 runs in the fourth innings at The Oval, India was bowled out for 234 runs and ended up losing the match by 209 runs. Here’s a detailed analysis of how both matches were similar in nature.

Winning the toss and opting to bowl first

In overcast conditions, both Ben Stokes and Rohit Sharma opted to bowl first against Australia. Batting first, the Aussies dealt with the initial conditions and ended up noting up a score of more than 400 runs in the first innings of both matches. Interestingly, Steve Smith led the Australian batting lineup with centuries on both occasions.

Collapses by England and India in both batting innings

While Australia scored 469 runs in the first innings against India, the Rohit Sharma-led side crumbled on 296 runs in reply. The Aussies scored 270/8 in the third innings before declaring and setting a target of 444 runs for India, which they failed to chase. Similarly, the Aussies notched up 416 runs in the first innings against England in the second Ashes Test, before bowling out England for 325 runs.

ALSO READ | 'Learn From Dhoni': Australia Made To Recall MSD's Epic Gesture After Bairstow's Dismissal

As Australia scored 279 runs in the third innings, they ended up setting a fourth-innings target of 327 runs for England. Ben Stokes and co. were eventually bowled out for 327 runs in the fourth innings.

Chasing 200+ runs on the final day of play with 5+ wickets remaining

Another similarity in both games was England and India chasing over 200 runs in the final day of play. While Day 5 of the second Test of Ashes 2023 started with England needing 257 runs with six wickets in hands. On the other hand, India required 280 runs on Day 5 to win the ICC WTC 2023 final with seven wickets in hand.