Duckett, Stokes revive England in chase of 371

Ben Duckett's half-century and his unbroken 69-run partnership with Ben Stokes led England's recovery in the final session on Day 4 after Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins combined to rattle the hosts early in their chase of 371. After Stuart Broad's four-wicket haul bowled Australia out for 279, England had slipped to 45/4. But Duckett, who was the beneficiary of a controversial ruling from the third umpire late in the day, helped the hosts to 114/4 at Stumps on Saturday (July 1), with the hosts needing 257 more to win the Lord's Test and square the series.

An innocuous delivery which was heading down the leg side gave Starc his first wicket as Zak Crawley got a faint tickle through to the 'keeper. Duckett, who was put down by Cameron Green (a very tough chance) in the opening over, also managed to overturn a leg-before decision. But the left-arm pacer struck in his next, with beauty that swung in late into Ollie Pope and uprooted the middle stump. Joe Root and Duckett then built a steady partnership - rotating the strike well, with the former also scoring a couple of boundaries.

Cummins sowed the seeds of doubt with short balls in the 13th over and there was immediately a change in the atmosphere. Root, hit on his forearm, fended the next one to Warner at first slip to depart for 18. Harry Brook got off the mark with a confident straight drive over Cummins' head. But he got a terrific delivery soon after, one that pitched on a length, seamed away, beat the outside edge and crashed onto the stumps.

Stokes and Duckett put their heads down and built a steady partnership to aid England's recovery. They kept the pacemen at bay before taking on part-timer Travis Head. Stokes came down the track to hit a six while Duckett went over mid-on for a boundary as the two batters did not allow the spinner to settle down. They also rotated the strike well, picking up the singles and twos to ensure England weren't bogged down as they maintained a decent scoring rate.

The introduction of Green saw Australia turn to short balls again but Duckett was up to the task, scoring a couple of boundaries, and also put away a loose ball from Starc for a four. Green, however, troubled Stokes with his short length deliveries and nearly dismissed the England skipper, with the ball just dropping wide of gully. In late drama, Duckett was given not out after being caught at fine leg by Starc off Green, with the third umpire ruling that the ball made contact with the ground when the catch was about to be completed.

Earlier, Khawaja and Smith were untroubled in the first hour, making most of the sunny conditions as they stretched the lead past 250 and extended their stand past 50. James Anderson, who wasn't effective, was taken off the attack after only three overs. Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson, who bowled in tandem, came up with a barrage of short deliveries. Smith and Khawaja were disciplined with their shot selection against the short deliveries but they also had a few uncomfortable moments.

It was Stuart Broad, introduced after the drinks break, who made the breakthrough as he had Khawaja off a top edge to end a 64-run stand. Smith handed a catch in the deep trying to guide a short one from Tongue in the gap. Head, dropped by Anderson on 0, had a short stay as he too fell to a short ball from Broad, with Joe Root taking a splendid one-handed catch at short leg. Alex Carey and Green kept the England bowlers at bay as they added 25 before the Lunch break to stretch the lead past 300.

It was an attritional second session with England being relentless with their short-ball strategy while Carey and Green were happy to play the waiting game. Eventually, it was England who came out on top in the game of patience as Robinson's short-pitched balls got the better of Green and Carey in quick succession after a 42-run partnership that came off 123 deliveries.

Ben Stokes, who bowled right from the start of the post-lunch session, delivered 12 overs on the trot and was struggling with his knee, but continued nevertheless. He eventually accounted for Josh Hazlewood's wicket, after Broad, who replaced Robinson (nine successive overs) dismissed Cummins. Nathan Lyon, who walked out to bat to a huge reception, added 15 runs with Starc before being the last to be dismissed as Broad finished with four.

Brief scores: Australia 416 & 279 (Usman Khawaja 77, Steven Smith 34; Stuart Broad 4-65, Ollie Robinson 2-48) lead England 325 & 114/4 (Ben Duckett 50*, Ben Stokes 29*; Pat Cummins 2-20, Mitchell Starc 2-40) by 256 runs.