Brook-Stokes half-century stand revives England

England 278 for 4 (Duckett 98, Crawley 48, Brook 45*) trail Australia 416 (Smith 110, Head 77, Warner 66, Tongue 3-98, Robinson 3-100) by 138 runs

London: England came close to wasting a superb fightback with some brainless batting late on the second day of the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord's.

The home side had done much to reverse the damage of a poor opening day, bowling Australia out for 416 and reaching 188-1 in response.

But Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett and Joe Root all gifted their wickets to Australia's telegraphed short-ball plan, Duckett falling for 98 and missing out on a maiden Ashes hundred.

The three wickets fell for 34 runs before Harry Brook, who had several near misses in his 45, and captain Ben Stokes, with a calm 17 from 57 balls, took England to 278-4, 138 behind.

The carelessness of England's batting was compounded by the fact key Australia spinner Nathan Lyon was off the field with a calf injury that will be assessed overnight.

Steve Smith earlier completed his 32nd Test hundred before being dismissed for 110 by Josh Tongue.

That was part of an Australia collapse of five wickets for 65 runs on Thursday morning, with Tongue and Ollie Robinson finishing with three wickets apiece.

This was so close to being a magnificent day for England - for more than two sessions they were every bit as good as they were lethargic on Wednesday.

As the pitch quickened up, the home bowlers found more zip. The catching was sharp and the batting, led by the increasingly dependable Duckett, was grinding Australia down.

Earlier, from 339-5 overnight, Australia had the chance to dominate the match, only to surrender the initiative then have it presented back.

Smith's hundred seemed inevitable from midway through day one. Unbeaten on 85 at the beginning of the day, he drove James Anderson for four to reach his 12th Ashes hundred - only the great Don Bradman has more.

By that point, Alex Carey had been lbw on review to Stuart Broad and Starc slashed Anderson behind. Tongue, though, was the pick of the bowlers and enticed Smith to a drive to fifth slip to dismiss him for the second time this summer - he had earlier done so for Worcestershire playing against Smith's Sussex.

When Robinson mopped up the tail, it completed an overall slump of seven wickets for 100 runs and Australia's malaise continued in the field.

Like the first Test, fielders were scattered to the boundary, Starc and Hazlewood went at more than six an over, the injury to Lyon could still prove to be a pivotal moment in the series.

The short-ball plan was hatched in desperation and England's compliance in their own downfall beggared belief.