Ashes 2015: England toil in pursuit of Australia's 566-8 declared
Stokes and Cook dig in for England late on
Saturday 18 July 2015 16:30, UK
Australia made batting look easy on day one of the second Investec Ashes Test at Lord's - but England made it look very difficult on day two.
The Baggy Greens racked up a score of 337-1 on Thursday and, thanks mainly to Steven Smith's double hundred, extended that to 566-8 on Friday before declaring shortly after tea.
England, however, suffered a dreadful start to their innings as Adam Lyth (0) was sent packing second ball and things got worse as the departures of Gary Ballance (23), Ian Bell (1) and Joe Root (1) saw them sink to 30-4.
Skipper Alastair Cook and all-rounder Ben Stokes carried out a rebuilding job of sorts - steering the hosts to 85-4 at stumps- but England still have some way to go to get back into the contest at cricket HQ.
They did get some joy earlier in the day - Stuart Broad impressing with the ball once again to finish with figures of 4-83 and Root chipping in with two wickets, those of Smith for 215 and debutant Peter Nevill for 45.
Watch the story of day two by playing the video above and then catch continued coverage of the second Ashes Test on Sky Sports Ashes from 10am on Saturday.
You can also watch the second Test at Lord's with a NOW TV Sports Day Pass. Plus, our Ashes Events Centre - the best of Sky Cricket's analysis at your fingertips - is available on our iPad app.
