Ashes 2019: Australia hold on as England fall short in dramatic final day at Lord’s

The match was drawn to leave Australia 1-0 up heading to Leeds for the third Ashes Test

Ashes 2019: Joe Root excited by Jofra Archer debut

Follow the latest updates live from the final day of the Ashes Second Test where both England and Australia harbour faint hopes of a victory.

Ben Stokes’s century has given England an outside chance of victory after he smashed his way to three figures, with Nathan Lyon taking the bulk of the punishment. The call came soon after Stokes reached his century to declare on 258-5, setting Australia an appetising 267 to win and 48 overs remaining in the day.

Australia also lost star batsman Steve Smith to a concussion, after he was struck on the neck by a Jofra Archer ball yesterday, and he will also miss the third Test at Headingly under the new ICC laws that rules players out for at least six days following a head injury. Follow the live updates below.

When is it?

The second Test takes place on 14-18 August at Lord’s.

Where can I watch it?

The match will be shown live on Sky Sports The Ashes and Sky Sports Main Event from 10am on each day’s play.

Odds

England to win: 14/1

Australia to win: 15/4

Draw: 1/2

Prediction

Draw: With rain expected to washout most – if not all – of Wednesday and Saturday and severely hamper the rest of the second Test, it’s difficult to look beyond the draw and Australia maintaining their 1-0 advantage.

Key Points

• Australia five wickets down chasing 267 to win
• Jofra Archer dismisses Warner and Khawaja
• Leach traps Bancroft lbw before having Labuschagne and Wade caught
• Ben Stokes reaches century as England build healthy lead
• Steve Smith ruled out of match and set to miss third Test with concussion

[18 August 2019 19:05 · Jack Rathborn]

Leach with the pressure now, this is superb stuff. 

Real pressure applied on Australia with six overs left now. 

Back to Archer, Cummins the batsman on strike. 

[18 August 2019 19:24 · Jack Rathborn]

MATCH DRAWN 

That's it then, some late drama but not enough time for England to push through and level the series. 

Australia remain 1-0 up and Leeds awaits for the third Test, where Steve Smith is expected to be absent.