England and Australia will clash in the second Test of the five-match Ashes series starting from Wednesday at Lord's. The home side will be coming in this match low on confidence after suffering a mammoth 251-run defeat in the series opener. Lord's will be the venue for the contest and it will be the 139th Test to be played at the Home of Cricket. In the recent past, the pitch at the ground is becoming more batting friendly before helping spinners come the fourth and fifth day of the match. Therefore, Nathan Lyon can become a potent weapon for the visitors. Highest team score of 729-6 (dec) at the ground in a five-day format was registered by Australia in 1930 whereas lowest team total of 38 was registered by Ireland in 2019.
After a horrid show in Birmingham, there are at least two changes expected in the England's playing eleven where pacer Jofra Archer is set to make his Test debut in place of injured James Anderson whereas left-arm spinner Jack Leach will replace out-of-form off-spinner Moeen Ali. In the batting department, the team will be once again relying on captain Joe Root, opener Rory Burns and all-rounder Ben Stokes to score bulk of the runs, whereas on the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of veteran pacer Stuart Broad, right-armer Chris Woakes and young Archer to produce timely breakthroughs.
On the other hand, Australia will come in the match high on confidence after
England and Australia will clash in the second Test of the five-match Ashes series starting from Wednesday at Lord's. The home side will be coming in this match low on confidence after suffering a mammoth 251-run defeat in the series opener. Lord's will be the venue for the contest and it will be the 139th Test to be played at the Home of Cricket. In the recent past, the pitch at the ground is becoming more batting friendly before helping spinners come the fourth and fifth day of the match. Therefore, Nathan Lyon can become a potent weapon for the visitors. Highest team score of 729-6 (dec) at the ground in a five-day format was registered by Australia in 1930 whereas lowest team total of 38 was registered by Ireland in 2019.
After a horrid show in Birmingham, there are at least two changes expected in the England's playing eleven where pacer Jofra Archer is set to make his Test debut in place of injured James Anderson whereas left-arm spinner Jack Leach will replace out-of-form off-spinner Moeen Ali. In the batting department, the team will be once again relying on captain Joe Root, opener Rory Burns and all-rounder Ben Stokes to score bulk of the runs, whereas on the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of veteran pacer Stuart Broad, right-armer Chris Woakes and young Archer to produce timely breakthroughs.
On the other hand, Australia will come in the match high on confidence after a thumping win in the first Test and therefore, there are no major changes expected in the playing eleven. In the batting department, the team will be relying on the likes of in-form Steve Smith, veteran opener David Warner, Travis Head and Mathew Wade to score bulk of the runs, whereas on the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of pacers Pat Cummins, James Pattinson and off-spinner Nathan Lyon to provide timely breakthroughs.
Player Recommendations:
Batsman: Steve Smith (10.5 Cr)
Steve Smith is being regarded by many as the best batsman currently playing in five-day format. The right-hander showed just that in the series opener where, on a difficult pitch, he scored brilliant centuries in both innings of the match, which was enough for him to secure the Player-of-the-Match award.
Wicketkeeper: Jonny Bairstow (9 Cr)
Jonny Bairstow is England's number-one wicketkeeper-batsman in the five-day format. However, his form of late with the bat in hand in red-ball cricket is becoming a real cause of concern for the home team management and therefore, Lord's Test might prove to be a final opportunity for him to keep his place in the playing eleven.
All-rounder: Ben Stokes (10 Cr)
Ben Stokes is being widely renowned as the best all-rounder across all formats. The 28-year-old has represented England in 53 Tests where he has scored 3,208 runs at an average of 33.76 and also has 131 wickets to his name.
Bowler: Nathan Lyon (9 Cr)
Nathan Lyon is probably the most underrated spinner currently playing in the five-day format. The right-arm offie showed his class in the series opener where his dismantled the home side's batting line up in the second innings by claiming six wickets in just two sessions on the final day.
Predicted Playing XI:
England: Jason Roy, Rory Burns, Joe Root (captain), Joe Denly, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Jack Leach, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad
Australia: David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (captain & wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, James Pattinson, Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle
