Second Test: England 361 & 349-7dec beat Australia 128 & 235 by 347 runs Scorecard
Man of the match: Joe Root (180)
JOE ROOT hit a magnificent century as England doubled their Ashes advantage with a thumping 347-run win over abject Australia.
The Yorkshireman scored 180 for his second Test ton, his first at Lord's and his first against Australia. At 22 years and 202 days old, he is the youngest man to make an Ashes century for England at the Home of Cricket.
Immediately on his dismissal, caught by Steve Smith off a lofted high shot behind his head, England captain Alastair Cook declared, well aware that his side had more than enough on the board.
The score was 349-7, a lead of 582, after Australia followed up England's sub-par first innings effort of 361 with an even worse display to be bowled out for 128 in less than 54 overs.
Written off before the campaign as possibly the worst Australian touring side in history, it is likely that it will be little remembered by the end of the series just how close the tourists came to taking a 1-0 lead at Trent Bridge.
But, even if the Aussies had managed to pull off a spectacular win in Nottingham, it could only have to be attributed to two extraordinary last-wicket partnerships, rather than an all-round solid performance.
And so, when the tail refused to wag this time in the first innings at Lord's, Australia were done for - having actually made another reasonable start to this Test match.
Cook won the toss for a second time and elected to bat but some of England's batsmen are also enduring a difficult series - and when the skipper was dismissed for 12, lbw to Shane Watson, Root (6) and Kevin Pietersen (2) quickly followed as Ryan Harris justified his selection.
England were in trouble on 28-3 - but Ian Bell again led a recovery, equalling his score of 109 in the first Test, while being ably supported by Jonathan Trott (58) and another Yorkshireman, Jonny Bairstow (67).
That was not the end of the story on the first day, though, as part-time leg-spinner Steve Smith struck three times to remove Bell, Bairstow and Matt Prior and leave the hosts on a hardly-commanding score of 289-7.
Vital early runs on the second day boosted the England total to 361, aided mainly by another swashbuckling last-wicket stand of 48 between Stuart Broad (33) and Graeme Swann (28 not out).
But few considered that a good enough score as Australia appeared to be easing their way towards lunch without the loss of a wicket.
There was no accounting for what happened next, though.
In the last over before the interval, vice-captain Watson was trapped lbw by Tim Bresnan before wasting a review which only went on to show he was plumb in front of the stumps.
Suddenly, England could go into the 40-minute break with a different mindset, and it showed when the two teams returned to the field for the afternoon session.
Swann struck to remove Chris Rogers lbw for a wicket which, if it had been reviewed, would have been overturned. Watson's hasty use of DRS had cost Australia doubly.
Three overs later, Bresnan - a replacement for the wayward Steven Finn and, thus, a third contributor from Yorkshire - took his second and Australia lost their second review when Phil Hughes was adjudged to have feathered behind to Prior.
That made it 53-3, and it would only get worse for the tourists.
Swann, in an unrelenting mood, would end up taking 5-44 - although even he admitted he got lucky by getting a wicket from a rank waist-high full toss to Rogers which would have gone on to miss the stumps.
Yes, this was another match with its fair share of controversial decisions and the Australians' baffling (mis)use of DRS undoubtedly contributed to their downfall.
But even the controversial manner in which the review system is being used by the umpires could not excuse such a lame batting performance.
On the stroke of tea, poor Ashton Agar was run out for 96 runs fewer than he managed in his first innings effort a week earlier on debut.
Then, after the interval, Peter Siddle and Brad Haddin both fell with the score on 104 while James Pattinson and Harris added 24 for the last wicket before the latter was out to Swann.
Australia were all out for 128 and England, with an innings lead of 233 had a decision to make - to enforce the follow-on or not.
Of course, with so much time left in the game, Cook was never likely to ask Australia to return to the crease but the captain's choice to bat again was tarnished as England closed day two on 31-3.
Again Cook (8) and Pietersen (5) failed to contribute, and they were joined by Trott who was out, unusually, for a duck.
All the wickets fell to Siddle who bowled an excellent spell of 3-4, as Australia looked to reduce the impact of their own failings and give themselves a sniff of a chance.
That sniff was snuffed out by lunch on day three, though, as Root and Bresnan survived the opening session unscathed.
Bresnan was an early victim after the break but that only served to bring the in-form Bell out of the hutch to support Root's bid for three figures.
The landmarks were passed after tea as Bell (74) joined centurion Root in a stand of 153 for the fifth wicket - and, though Bell fell to Smith before close, the game was well and truly up for the Aussies.
Still with two days left, England resumed their innings on the fourth morning, presumably in the hope that Root would make a double-century.
It all became rather pointless when Bairstow (20) and, eventually, Root - looking for quick runs - were out, having added only 16 to the overnight score.
And so began the hard work.
Surely Australia could not be as incompetent with the bat again. Surely they would put up a fight in the unlikely hope that they could rescue a draw.
Not exactly. The tourists' top-order faltered again with Watson (20) lbw to Anderson this time, Rogers (6) injudiciously leaving one from Swann which clipped the top of off-stump, and Hughes matching his first innings score of one before he also fell victim to spin.
Hard work? Pah! Australia had simply got themselves in another mess on 36-3.
Thank goodness, then, for the partnership of 98 between Usman Khawaja (54) and skipper Clarke (51) which gave the occasion even the very briefest suggestion of a contest.
The pair had even seen off Swann - but Root, not content with excelling only with the bat, showed his talent with the ball as well and sent both men spinning out before tea.
Indeed, Smith quickly joined them as Australia slumped to the interval on 136-6. It was the latest chapter in a long line of failed review for the Aussies with Smith adjudged to have got the faintest nick behind off Bresnan.
On Twitter, the Cricket Australia official feed called the decision "bullshit" - a reaction for which they quickly apologised.
But, while they may have been technically incorrect about Smith, there was no over-riding evidence to overturn the on-field not out decision given to Agar.
Nevertheless, England reviewed on a whim and, despite there being nothing on HotSpot, a noise as the ball passed the bat was enough to convince the third umpire that Agar had been dismissed.
It was a harsh decision on the youngster - and, shortly afterwards, when Haddin was unable to review another Swann lbw, Australia were 162-8.
Finally, the hard work actually began as the hosts set about removing the Aussies' obdurate tail.
Siddle and Pattinson added 30 for the ninth wicket but, having been able to claim the extra half hour and take the new ball, England still had a good chance of finishing it off on the fourth evening.
Duly, they did - but only just, as Swann trapped Pattinson plumb lbw in the final over of the day, the 10th wicket having again put on 43 runs.
Immediately, the Notts bowler became the most popular man in the dressing room, preventing a return to the ground for a final day's play which could have potentially been over in one ball.
Undoubtedly, though, it was Root who deserved his man of the match honour, and his bright star is in stark contrast to the dearth of talent in the Aussie ranks.
Australia changed their coach just over two weeks before this series and the dislodged man, Mickey Arthur, is now taking legal action against his former employers, claiming the dismissal has damaged his reputation.
But it is going to take more than a change at the top to get to the bottom of what is wrong with Australian cricket.
England now find themselves on the verge of retaining the Ashes at the earliest possible opportunity, having gone 2-0 in a home Ashes series for the first time since 1890!
Victory at Lord's was also the first time since 1929 that England have won four Ashes Tests in a row. And, with Anderson and Swann now both gracing the top-ten list of England wicket-takers, it is fair to say that these are heady times for English cricket.
Only once before has a team come back from 2-0 down in an Ashes series to win - Australia in 1936-37 - and that team had the hardly small matter of Sir Donald Bradman to call upon.
And, as former England captain Mike Atherton sagely said in his report in the Times: "These Australians are no history boys in the making. Not in the winning sense, at any rate."
I actually have a ticket for the second day of the fourth Test at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street. By then, I suspect, the Aussies will just be playing, and praying, to keep the score down.
They singularly failed to that at Lord's over the last weekend. This was a thumping.
THE ASHES 2013
FIXTURES
| 10-14 July | First Test: England 215 & 375 beat Australia 280 & 296 by 14 runs | Trent Bridge |
| 18-21 July | Second Test: England 361 & 349-7d beat Australia 128 & 235 by 347 runs | Lord's |
| 1-5 August | Third Test | Old Trafford |
| 9-13 August | Fourth Test | Riverside |
| 21-25 August | Fifth Test | The Oval |
CENTURIES
180 Joe Root (England), second Test
109 Ian Bell (England), first Test
109 Ian Bell (England), second Test
FIVE-WICKET HAULS (~ 10 wickets in the match)
5-44 Graeme Swann (England), second Test
5-50 Peter Siddle (Australia), first Test
5-72 Ryan Harris (Australia), second Test
~5-73 James Anderson (England), first Test
~5-85 James Anderson (England), first Test
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