'No thought' batting leaves England on brink of defeat

England were left facing an uphill battle to maintain their unbeaten Test summer after batting with "no thought" in the second innings.

- SONIA TWIGG

There were signs of recklessness in the first innings, but in the second England seemed to have put all attempts at absorbing pressure to one side and came out swinging, aside from Jamie Smith’s punchy 67.

Ben Duckett was the first to fall to a drive from mid-on, with Ollie Pope dragging on shortly afterwards, but Dan Lawrence’s batting was the prime example of intent without caution. In one notable moment, he charged down the pitch trying to hit the ball into the leg side, leaving all of his stumps exposed and the ball narrowly bouncing over before he was out for an aggressive 35 from as many balls, missing out on his best chance at a first Test half-century under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

Sir Alastair Cook described the innings on Test Match Special: “England are looking for quality. That wasn't an inning of quality, it was slogging. He plays better than that and I do feel frustrated for him. Even the one he did hit for six was still a totally risky shot.”