But in the end it took a surprise two-wicket intervention from Joe Root to prevent day one of this crunch second Test being fully dominated by Australia. The tourists were still the happier camp come stumps, it must be said, reaching 339 for five from 83 overs - the rate once again poor - with Steve Smith 85 not out from 149 balls.
After being kept to just 22 runs during Australia's two-wicket triumph at Edgbaston, there was always a nagging sense that Smith would not be kept down for long. After all, the 34-year-old is not just one of the sport's great players - passing 9,000 Test runs along the way here - but one of its great problem solvers to boot.
And so it proved. Emerging at 96 for two after lunch to a chorus of tedious boos from the Lord's crowd, Smith anchored two century partnerships with Marnus Labuschagne (47) and Travis Head (77) that negated England's apparent advantage at the flip of the coin and forced their seamers to toil more than anyone expected.
The bat was still beaten with a degree of regularity and Stuart Broad could not believe his wickets column ended empty (to be fair, he also struggled to accept Smith overturning an "edge" on 24, despite daylight on the replay).
Josh Tongue, returning to the scene of that five-wicket haul on his debut earlier this month, injected pace to proceedings and some fine deliveries amid figures of two for 88 from 18 overs.
Denne historien er fra June 29, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra June 29, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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