The third day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s was abruptly called off by rain on Friday, with Australia holding a commanding 221 run lead over England.
Usman Khawaja led Australia’s tenacious battle with an unbeaten 58 off 123 balls in bowler-friendly conditions.
His 60 or so partnerships with David Warner, another opening batsman, and Marnus Labuschagne maintained Australia in the lead. When stumps were called at 130-2 in their second innings, Khawaja had Steve Smith next to him on 6, and there were 25 overs left over for the day.
The Australians, who are currently up 1-0 in the series, would aim for a lead of around 450 and the opportunity to bowl at England on Saturday before lunch.
However, they are conscious of the fact that Nathan Lyon, their top spinner, is out injured after injuring his right calf while sprinting to the ball on Thursday after tea. He experienced a “significant” strain and used crutches to go to Lord’s, according to Cricket Australia.
The advances England gained on Thursday were wasted. As a result of the hitters’ collapse to 325 all out and Australia’s 91-run first-innings advantage, the bowlers were unable to make the kind of strides that the Australians had before in the identical circumstances.
Any bowlers who could locate the appropriate lengths had swing and bounce thanks to the cool, cloudy weather that became darker after lunchtime. The English didn’t do it regularly, although the Australians did.
The Australians continued to bowl short and aggressively against defensive fields like they did on Thursday. Prior to the release of the new ball, they dismissed England.
In response to Australia’s 416, England began play on 278-4, and the dismissal of captain Ben Stokes to Mitchell Starc’s nasty second ball of the day ignited a collapse that saw six wickets fall for 47 runs in less than 90 minutes.