The Aussies claimed a fantastic win in the 1st Test at Edgbaston and the series rolls on to Lord’s on Wednesday for what is shaping up to be a massive Test. Check out our preview and betting tips from Mr.Cricket below.
Ashes 2nd Test Betting Tips
Lord’s Cricket Ground, Wednesday 28th June - Sunday 2nd July
1st Test Review
Edgbaston has a knack of throwing up some of the most thrilling Test matches in all of cricket and the 1st Test was no different. Sent in to bat first, the home side piled on 8/393 in quick time, declaring near the end of Day 1 on the back of a brilliant 118 from Joe Root. Nathan Lyon was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies with 4/149 off 29 overs.
Australia were reeling in their first innings at 3/67 before Travis Head and Usman Khawaja piled on 81 for the fourth wicket. Khawaja went on to make 141 off 321 in an incredibly patient and composed innings as the Aussies were bowled out for 386. Ollie Robinson claimed three wickets but the best of the bowlers for England was without doubt Stuart Broad, who claimed timely wickets throughout with 3/68.
The Aussies claimed early wickets in the 2nd innings, having their opponents 3/77 before Joe Root, Harry Broko and Ben Stokes put up a fight, all scoring in the 40s before Cummins and Lyon took the key wickets to bowl the home side out for 273.
Needing 281 to win, the Aussies got off to a solid start as David Warner and Usman Khawaja put on 61 for the first wicket. Three quick wickets of Warner, Labuschagne and Smith fell in the dying light of Day 4, however, to be 3-89 at with one day to play.
England started the final day with the ascendency, taking five wickets at regular intervals to have Australia on the back foot at 8/227 still needing 54 for victory, enter Pat Cummins. The Aussie skipper played an innings for the ages, patiently manipulating the ball and field to guide the Aussies tovictory with overs to spare. Cummins finished with 44 off 73 balls while Nathan Lyon held his own, keeping out 28 balls to stay at the crease with his captain.
Australia
There is no doubt that nine names have already been filled out on the Australian team sheet for the Lord’s Test, those final two spots will both go to pace bowlers, and will be fought for between Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Mitch Starc.
A lot will depend on the pitch here for this decision. If its more of a green top, I think Hazlewood and Boland play again. If the English decide to roll out a harder, dryer pitch like the one we saw in Edgbaston, then I think Starc has to play. Not only does he have more pace on a harder wicket than the other two, but he also offers invaluable batting depth at No.8 as well as those all important foot marks for Nathan Lyon, which could prove to be super important late in the Test.
Australia Predicted XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
England
As is usually the case with the losing side, England have some more decisions to make regarding team make up for Lord’s. First and foremost, will Jonny Bairstow retain his spot behind the stumps? Multiple wicket-keeping errors from the veteran have some calling for Foakes to come back into the side, whether it be at the expense of Bairstow himself, or potentially Ollie Pope, who had a disappointing 1st Test.
More questions will surround their whole bowling unit. Will they stick with Moeen Ali as the No.1 spinner or opt for younger blood in the likes of Liam Dawson or Rehan Ahmed? The pace bowling contingent is also up in the air. Broad should play as the standout 1st Test performer, but the other two spots will be fought for between Anderson, Robinson, Mark Wood and Matthew Potts.
England Predicted XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Jimmy Anderson
Match Prediction
So hard to know how this Test will play out without knowing the two key factors. 1) What sort of pitch will the Lord’s ground staff roll out? And 2) who will win the toss and inevitably bat first. Although chasing targets for a fourth innings victory has become somewhat easier against England given how much time they add to the game because of their explosive batting, I still think there is an inherent advantage to batting first in an England Ashes series.
Without knowing those two key factors, you have to like the Aussies here. Their line-up seems much more stable at the moment and it’s daunting that they were able to win in Birmingham with the two best Test batsmen in the world (Smith and Labuschagne) basically having no impact on the game.
Back the Aussies to take a commanding 2-0 lead in London.
