Ashes: England and Australia draw the second Test

Australia ended the fifth day of the second Test against England at 154/6. England, despite a deadly effort by Jofra Archer, proved unable to cinch the five-day Test, which ended in a draw.

The innings started well for England, with a century from Ben Stokes (who was awarded man of the match) and good partnerships with Jos Buttler and Bairstow setting the home team up to declare at 258/5.

Australia came up to bat for the final time and by tea break, they were 46/2, needing 221 runs in 35 overs.

Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith’s replacement, batted a noble effort (as the first “concussion sub” since the new rules kicked in on August 1) but was unable to take his team to victory. Labuschagne managed a half-century before being caught by Root on a delivery by Jack Leach. The decision to mark Labuschagne as out may yet be controversial, with some saying that the ball bounced before it reached Root’s hand. The Third Umpire’s decision was final, however, and Marnus shook his head as he walked off.

Australia’s openers failed to provide momentum to their team in the final innings with Bancroft out for 16, Warner out for 5 (his fourth single-figure score in four innings), Khawaja out for 2, and only Labuschagne managing to score more than a 50, with 59 runs in a 100 balls.

Head and Cummins were the last Australians standing as the Umpires called the match a draw after 47.3 overs.

This was Steve Smith's first Test series after a 12-month ban for ball-tampering. But it was the first-time player on the other side, Jofra Archer (for whom this was a Test debut) that managed to shine — taking three wickets and having the lowest economy of bowlers on his side.

Part of the reason for the draw was the advent of rain in the morning, which delayed proceedings by an hour.

Day 4 of the Test saw a controversial moment when a delivery by Jofra Archer struck Steve Smith on the neck, putting the batsman out of play for 40 minutes. Archer was criticized for not checking up on Smith, who ended up returning to bat before being dismissed after scoring 12 more runs.

Whether Smith, who was ruled out of play for day 5 due to a recurring concussion, will be able to play the next Test remains uncertain as Cricket Australia said a “short turnaround” is not in his favour.  Smith scored a century in the first Test against England in this season of the Ashes.

The next Test against England will be played at Leeds on August 22. 

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