Ashes: Rain halts England’s charge at Lord’s

England’s charge through the Australia batting was halted by more rain on another wet day at Lord’s.

The home side reduced the Ashes holders to 80-4 – trailing by 178 – on the third day of the second Test before rain wiped out the final two sessions, to go with the abandonment of the first day.

In the 24.1 overs possible, England’s bowlers recovered from a poor start to pressure Australia into losing three wickets for 11 runs. As they allowed the tourists to move from 11-1 to 60-1, England were in danger of wasting perfect bowling conditions.

But debutant Jofra Archer took his first Test wicket, followed by one each for Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad. Still, England were unable to find a way to remove prolific Australia batsman Steve Smith, who remains on 13 not out.

Given there are only two days of play remaining – Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be dry – it may be that there is not enough time for England to force the win that would level the series at 1-1.

For there to be a positive result, the tourists would have to bat beyond England and bowl them out on the final day, or the hosts would need to wrap up this innings quickly, then get far enough ahead to be able to attack Australia’s batsmen again on Sunday. (BBC Sport)