Australia levelled the series in emphatic fashion on Sunday, as they thrashed England by 405 runs in the second Test at Lord’s.
Australia were on top from the very first session and maintained their dominance throughout, completing a dramatic turnaround after suffering a 169-run defeat barely a week ago.
England were bowled out for 312 on day three, and the Australians decided to bat again, despite having the option of asking the English to follow on, closing the day on 108-0.
David Warner and Chris Rogers went into the morning session on day four looking to push on, but Rogers was forced to call it a day, one run short of what would have been a ninth score of fifty or more in his last 10 innings, as spells of dizziness prevented him from carrying on.
Warner and Steve Smith pushed on and piled on the runs in clinical style, racing to a fifty stand in eight overs, before Warner hit one straight to Alastair Cook for a brisk 83.
Smith, who hit a double ton in the first innings, proved once again that he is the man for all occasions as he smashed eight boundaries in a 48-ball 58. Skipper Michael Clarke and Mitchell Marsh then added respective cameos of 32 and 27 before they declared on 254-2, leaving England with a daunting 508 runs for victory.
Adam Lyth and Cook went into survival mode, but avoiding defeat quickly turned into an unlikely scenario as Lyth, as he did in the first innings, played at a ball he could have left, edging one to Peter Nevill for seven. Cook didn’t last much longer, falling for 11.
The wickets kept tumbling as the English top-order provided little resistance. Ballance and Bell fell cheaply before Stokes was run out for a duck as Australia closed in on victory.
Joe Root’s Man of the Match performance from the first Test quickly faded from the memory as Josh Hazlewood bowled him for 17, and Mitchell Johnson then put in a lethal spell of short-pitched bowling that yielded the wickets of Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali.
The visitors eventually skittled the English for 103, to wrap up the comprehensive 405-run victory. 1-1 going into the third match in Birmingham on 29 July.
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