England vs. Australia, 2nd Ashes Test, Day 3: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

Australia edged ever closer to winning the second Test and levelling up the Ashes at 1-1 thanks to another commanding performance at Lord’s on Day 3.

Michael Clarke’s men declared 566 on Friday before running riot through England’s batting order in the early exchanges of their innings, and the hosts simply never found a way to recover from there.

The English resumed at the crease on 85 for four, but could only muster 312 all out as Australia moved very much into the driving seat by posting 108 without loss at stumps.

Here’s a look at the full England scorecard from an innings to forget for the hosts:

Batsmen	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes
Lyth	c Nevill b Starc	0	2	0	0
Cook	b M Marsh	96	233	13	0
Ballance	b Johnson	23	31	4	0
Bell	b Hazlewood	1	2	0	0
Root	c Nevill b Johnson	1	4	0	0
Stokes	b M Marsh	87	128	13	1
Buttler	c Nevill b Lyon	13	26	3	0
Moeen	lbw b Hazlewood	39	57	5	1
Broad	c Sub b Johnson	21	45	1	0
Wood	b Hazlewood	4	7	1	0
Anderson	not out	6	7	1	0
Extras		21
Total		312

Ben Stokes and Alastair Cook were the men challenged with steadying the ship initially on Saturday, and they duly did exactly that by forging an excellent partnership.

The skipper was letting Stokes do the damage with some good singles, and the Durham man found boundary after boundary.

England suddenly had the look of a team that could make Australia sweat. They’d gone from 30 for four in a hopeless position to knocking on the 200 door without further loss.

However, just before lunch, disaster struck as Mitchell Marsh disposed of Stokes for 87 with an excellent delivery, leaving England on 175, as Sky Sports Cricket’s video shows:

That much would have changed both captains’ lunch-time team talks, as England now needed to hold out for much longer and start thinking about going for the draw.

Jos Buttler came in to replace Stokes, but he was riding his luck from the off.

Having edged a Mitchell Johnson delivery to Peter Nevill, he looked like he was going to get his marching orders for nine, but a review revealed that Nevill had grounded the ball.

Buttler’s luck wasn’t in for much longer, though, as after edging a Nathan Lyon ball behind, Nevill made amends for his earlier error, with England's innings reading 210 for six.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Cook was still at the thick of the action, however, as he moved toward the century mark in style and attempted to keep his partner calm.

Marsh, meanwhile, had other ideas.

Another tricky delivery saw the skipper play on to his own stumps, as his innings came to an end for 96—Sky Sports Cricket’s video revealed the dismissal:

Lord’s is something of a nearly ground for the Essex man, as BBC Test Match Special revealed that he’s been perilously close to a century there on three occasions now:

Cook’s wicket on 266 seemed to deflate England somewhat, as Australia looked to bowl them out as quickly as possible.

They did that without really breaking a sweat, too, and Piers Morgan was one of many questioning the ability of the English order:

Still, you can take nothing away from Australia, who bowled brilliantly to restrict England to their 312 total. Johnson enjoyed the best of the figures, with three wickets for 53 runs, while Marsh’s duo of dismissals at crucial times can’t be ignored.

Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott praised the Aussies’ bowling effort and explained why they decided not to enforce the follow-on, via BBC Sport: "To bowl England out for 312 is a decent effort by Australia, because there's nothing in the pitch. I think Michael Clarke will bat again and probably bat until lunch tomorrow. That would give them five sessions—I know it's a flat pitch, but that's a long time for England to bat."

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Chris Rogers and David Warner sprinted to get changed and ready for action and very much picked up from where they left off from the first innings.

They were coping with everything that England could throw at them, as Warner moved over the half-century mark without really breaking a sweat.

Play closed with Rogers on 44 and Warner on 60, with a platform for second Test success laid perfectly.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Australia currently lead by 362 runs, and it won’t be long before Clarke declares and gets England back at the crease.

England, then, essentially need to rely on the elements to give them a chance of taking a draw—and, let’s face it, the rain is usually pretty reliable.

Otherwise, though, Day 4 could well see Australia level the Ashes up as they finally start to show why they’re the hot favourites.