Ben Stokes took another bite out of the Aussies with an audacious innings for the ages, but ultimately left Lord’s with a sour taste in his mouth.
Unlike his heroics at Headingley four years ago, or in the World Cup final just weeks before that, his one man batting masterclass could not find a way past this Australian team. And the fact that they won out against an inspired Stokes, a wound up Stuart Broad and a febrile Lord’s crowd making noises like no other, their 43-run win was even more dramatic than anyone could have imagined when they filed into the ground in the morning.
Just three Test matches remain in this series and at 2-0 down, England are already staring into the abyss as far as regaining these Ashes goes, because their consistently wild approach has been dealt with superbly by the best team in the world.
