AUSTRALIA has moved to 2-0 in the 2023 Men’s Ashes series after defeating England by 43 runs in a dramatic five-day match at Lord’s overnight.

There was controversy, a rowdy crowd, and one of the more remarkable innings from Ben Stokes, but not enough chaos to prevent Australia from taking a potentially decisive series lead.

We take you through the action of what was truly a spectacular final day of Test cricket, full of momentum swings and decisive moments.

>> SCROLL to see the scorecard

HOW IT HAPPENED

2023 Men’s Ashes: 2nd Test (Lord’s) – Day 5
Scenario: England 4-114, 171 runs to win.

Survive ’til drinks

The first period England needed to navigate was through to the first drinks break. Ben Duckett successfully did so alongside skipper Ben Stokes, in the face of continued plans to bounce out batters. As opposed to the two-paced wicket of day four, it looked slow and the English batters preyed on that – until Duckett gloved Josh Hazlewood behind to Alex Carey. Game on.

Controversy

A usually placid Lord’s crowd came to life with jeers and likely some choice words as Carey stumped a dozing Jonny Bairstow. Though, the dismissal was far from as simple as the scorecard reads. Bairstow had sauntered out of his crease after a Cam Green delivery, only for the Aussie gloveman to notice his carelessness and swiftly throw down the stumps. Dead ball? No. Cheap? Yes. Out? Also yes.

The onslaught

With the crowd brought into the game, Stokes was joined by a fired up Stuart Broad at the crease for a sensational 108-run seventh-wicket partnership. Stokes launched into 93 runs off 88 balls after Bairstow’s dismissal as Broad did his best to get under the Aussies’ skin, helping whittle the total down from 178 to just 70 at the time of Stokes’ dismissal. The England skipper took a particular liking to Green, bringing up triple figures with a six before Australia crawled to the lunch break.

Rattled

There are few things quite like momentum in cricket, and Stokes was pulling all of it in favour of his side. It really seemed to rattle Australia before the lunch break, though abuse from the Lord’s crowd perhaps only spurred the visitors on. Nervous heads turned to nervous hands too, as Mitchell Starc fumbled Stokes over the boundary, and Steve Smith dropped a sitter just after lunch to keep England kicking.

Bowling machine stuff

Though not quite Bodyline tactics, both side adopted a series of short-pitched bowling which brought about respective batting collapses. It somewhat worked against the Aussies in the fourth innings, with Stokes prepared for the same delivery every ball and duly putting it away. The play became predictable, and meant Stokes could dictate strike in between his boundary hitting.

Drying it up

With Australian greats like Ricky Ponting crying out for something different over commentary, Pat Cummins and the Australian bowlers heeded the yield. They began to dry up England’s boundaries and overall scoring, shifting deliveries wide outside off stump. It worked, because when Stokes finally got a pullable ball, he could only slice it in the air and into the gracious gloves of Carey.

The beginning of the end

In what can only be described as a moment of utter relief for Australian players and fans alike, Stokes was dismissed by Hazlewood for a magical 155 (214) with 70 runs left to chase. It was accepted that the gritty allrounder would likely be the difference for England, and with him removed, Australia had a clear path to victory. Its pantomime villains – Broad and Ollie Robinson – were brought together at the crease.

Delaying the inevitable

Things quickly unravelled after the staunchly attacking defence of Stokes’ innings, with Broad also sent packing by Hazlewood. Two hours of fireworks and playing up the crowd soon turned to a balance of nervous silence and petulant jeers as Australia skittled England’s tail. Numbers 10 and 11, Josh Tongue and James Anderson, battled until the new ball was due, but only delayed the inevitable in their six-over, 25-run stand as a rare full ball from Starc split Tongue’s stumps and wrapped things up.

Same old Aussies… always winning

A familiar chant roared across the Lord’s stands, though it couldn’t take away Australia’s newly minted 2-0 series lead. The result means England needs to win all of the remaining three Tests to take back the coveted urn. Only one time has a side come back from losing the first two matches to win an Ashes series, all the way back in 1936-37. Bring on Headingley.

SCORECARD

RESULT: Australia won by 43 runs
POTM: Steve Smith
TOSS: England won and elected to bowl

1st Innings: Australia 416 (100.4)

Steve Smith 110 (184), Travis Head 77 (73), Usman Khawaja 66 (88)
Josh Tongue 3-98 (22), Ollie Robinson 3-100 (24.4), Joe Root 2-19 (8)

2nd Innings: England 325 (76.2)

Ben Duckett 98 (134), Harry Brook 50 (68), Zak Crawley 48 (48)
Mitchell Starc 3-88 (17), Travis Head 2-17 (7), Josh Hazlewood 2-71 (13)

Australia led by 91 runs.

3rd Innings: Australia 279 (101.5)

Usman Khawaja 77 (167), Steve Smith 34 (62), Marnus Labuschagne 30 (51)
Stuart Broad 4-65 (24.5), Ollie Robinson 2-48 (26), Josh Tongue 2-53 (20)

Australia led by 370 runs.

4th Innings: England 327 (81.3)

Ben Stokes 155 (214), Ben Duckett 83 (112), Josh Tongue 19 (26)
Pat Cummins 3-69 (25), Mitchell Starc 3-79 (21.3), Josh Hazlewood 3-80 (18)

Australia won by 43 runs.

SERIES FIXTURE

1st Test | Edgbaston – Australia won by two wickets
2nd Test | Lord’s – Australia won by 43 runs
3rd Test | Headingley – Thu July 6 – Mon July 10
4th Test | Old Trafford – Wed July 19 – Sun July 23
5th Test | The Oval – Thu July 27 – Mon July 31