Ashes: 'We're in a great position,' says England's Ben Duckett

NEW DELHI: England's Ben Duckett downplayed his disappointment of falling short of a century at Lord's on Thursday. Instead, he chose to highlight his team's impressive response to Australia's formidable first innings total of 416 during the second day of the second Ashes Test.

Duckett's outstanding knock of 98 contributed to England's rapid progress, as they reached 278-4 in an exhilarating "Bazball" style of batting.

However, his innings concluded when he mistimed a shot, resulting in a straightforward catch for David Warner.

"At the start of the day I'd have been over the moon if I was offered 98 but falling so close to scoring three figures here at Lord's, yeah I'm obviously gutted about that. But I thought it was certainly my best innings in an England shirt," Duckett told reporters after the close of play.

He said that for him the most important thing was to be true to himself in the way he plays his cricket, which in general entails attacking every ball without fear or favour.

1/10:​Steve Smith equals Steve Waugh's tally of 32 Test centuries

2/10:​Milestone man

<p>After having a rare failure at Edgbaston, Australia’s run machine Steve Smith notched up his 32nd Test hundred, equalling former Aussie skipper Steve Waugh's record on Day 2 of the 2nd Test of the Ashes series at Lord’s.<br /></p>Reuters

3/10:​2nd Test hundred at Lord’s

<p>It was Smith’s 2nd Test hundred at Lord’s, which is the most by any Australian since 2010. Smith averages 61.37, scoring 491 runs at Lord’s. It was at the same where he made his Test debut against Pakistan in 2010 and showcased his brilliance by smashing a remarkable 215.<br /></p>AP

4/10:​Fastest to reach the 32-ton mark

<p>Smith now has only Ricky Ponting, who has scored 41 centuries, in his sights on Australia's all-time Test ton scoring charts. Moreover, playing his 174th innings in his 99th Test, Smith is the fastest to reach the 32-ton mark.<br /></p>AP

5/10:​15K international runs

<p>Smith recorded yet another milestone by completing 15,000 runs in international cricket during the Day 2 of the 2nd Ashes Test at Lord’s.<br /></p>Reuters

6/10:​15K international runs

<p>Smith currently averages 49.67 and is bettered only by India's run-machine Virat Kohli (53.44).<br /></p>Reuters

7/10:​Smith - 2nd fastest to 9000 Test runs

<p>The Australian run machine went past India’s Rahul Dravid and became the second-fastest player to score 9000 runs in Test cricket. Smith also became the fastest Australian to achieve this feat, surpassing Ricky Ponting.<br /></p>AFP

8/10:​Smith - 2nd fastest to 9000 Test runs

<p>Smith went past the milestone vs England at Lord’s in the ongoing Ashes series. It took him 174 innings to achieve this feat.<br /><br /></p>Reuters

9/10:​Four 50+ scores at Lord’s

<p>Smith entered the record books by achieving the most consecutive 50+ scores at Lord's in Tests. He has struck four 50+ consecutive scores.<br /><br /></p>AFP

10/10:​Most Test hundreds among Fab-4

<p>Smith has the tally of the most hundreds among the famous “Fab-4” in Test cricket. Smith has scored 32 hundreds in Tests whereas, England’s Joe Root has 30 hundreds, India’s Virat Kohli has 28 hundreds, and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson too has 28 hundreds.<br /></p>AP

Steve Smith equals Steve Waugh's tally of 32 Test centuries

"I'd have been gutted with myself if I'd gone away from it and gone into my shell and gloved one to the keeper behind," he said.

"For three or four overs leading up to that I felt so comfortable hitting it for ones, and 10 metres either side of him (Warner) there I'd have got a hundred."

"I always make jokes about never leaving the ball and sometimes I don't know how I'm getting runs because of it," he added.

Duckett fell during a wild hour in the middle of the afternoon when Australia seemed to bowl nothing but short aggressive balls and England seemed to do nothing but swing hard at every one of them.

For England's part, that came about all by itself, according to Duckett.

"There wasn't really any discussion. Everyone individually went about it differently," he said.

"It's the way we play our cricket. If they're going to have plans like that and we're going to go in our shells and get bombed out, people round the corner would be going totally against what we do," he said, in a nod to some of the criticism of the team's "Bazball" style of play named after their coach Brendon McCullum.

1/10:​Top-5: Fastest players to 9000 Test runs

2/10:​Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

<p>Former Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara tops this list and is the fastest player to breach the 9000 run Test landmark. The southpaw achieved this feat against Pakistan at Sharjah in 2011.<br /></p>

3/10:​Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

<p>Sangakkara took 172 innings to accomplish this.<br /></p>

4/10:​Steven Smith (Australia)

<p>The Australian run machine is the latest entrant on this elite list. Smith went past Rahul Dravid and became the second-fastest player to score 9000 runs in Test cricket recently. Smith also became the fastest Australian to achieve this feat, surpassing Ricky Ponting.<br /></p>

5/10:​Steven Smith (Australia)

<p>Smith went past the milestone vs England at Lord’s in the ongoing Ashes series. It took him 174 innings to achieve this feat. <br /><br /><br /></p>

6/10:​Rahul Dravid (India)

<p>The former skipper and batting great, Rahul Dravid ranks third on this list. The 'Wall' was a consistent run-getter for India in the red-ball format. Dravid is also the fastest player from India to score 9000 runs in Test cricket.<br /></p>

7/10:​Rahul Dravid (India)

<p>Dravid accomplished this feat against the WI in 2006 at Kingston. Dravid went past the milestone in 176 innings.<br /></p>

8/10:​Brian Lara (West Indies)

<p>The 'Prince of Trinidad' was among the greatest Test players the world has ever seen. Lara was arguably the best left-hand batter in the longest format of the game. He is also the 4th fastest player to score 9000 runs in Test cricket.<br /></p>

9/10:​Brian Lara (West Indies)

<p>Lara went past this milestone in 177 innings vs South Africa in 2004.<br /><br /><br /></p>

10/10:​Ricky Ponting (Australia)

<p>Rounding off this list with former Aussie skipper, Ricky Ponting. 'Punter' was one of the cleanest hitters of the cricket ball in the longest format of the game.<br /></p>

Top-5: Fastest players to 9000 Test runs

Overall, Duckett said he felt that England had had the better day and put themselves back in contention after Australia had looked set to put on a huge first innings score.

"From a position where they could potentially go on and score 500 I thought we fought back so well," Duckett said.

"I think we're in a great position."

(With inputs from Reuters)