• England struggling after epic duel has crowd captivated
A mid-afternoon duel between two contrasting, charismatic characters eclipsed the match situation at Lord’s for a while. For once the back-page headlines were trustworthy. The critical contest was between Jofra Archer, England’s newest and fastest paceman, and Steve Smith, the indomitable former Test captain of Australia returning to his cherished natural habitat in the middle order, and it had a full house spellbound.
True pace bowling has always been a compelling spectacle and on the sort of balmy day when a post-prandial nap had its attractions Archer and Smith commanded the absolute attention of everyone. The rhythmic clapping of spectators in time with Archer’s cruise to the crease kept even the well-lubricated awake. Sometimes the ball flew way over the outstretched gloves of Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps.
Written by Vic Marks at Lord’s
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/aug/17/smith-archer-second-test-england-australia-ashes under the title “Smith and Archer hypnotise to leave second Test tantalisingly poised”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
