Josh Tongue was at his brutal best and lived up to the reputation of being one of the fastest pacers in the England cricket team. The 25-year-old dismissed Australian opener David Warner for 66 in the 30th over of the first innings after England won the toss and opted to bowl first. It was a terrific delivery as the ball darted in to left-handed Warner from the off stump line. The ball was quick and it tricked the ageing Warner who was late to react to the moving ball. Warner was not in control and the ball sneaked in through the gap between bat and pad. The ball ended up breaking a part of the leg stump.
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Watch the Tongue break Warner's stumps below:
Warner GONE! _
S_t_u_a_r_t_ _B_r_o_a_d_ Josh Tongue gets his man! #EnglandCricket | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/3sw6FSU2To
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 28, 2023
Tongue set up Warner nicely in this over. His previous deliveries were little shorter. This wicket-taking ball was fuller and had more pace on it than the previousone. It skidded off the pitch to beat Warner but it did not beat the stumps. Rather crashed into it, breaking the stumps eventually. The groundstaff had to rush in with a new stick to replace the poor injured stump.
While writing this article, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were well settled and batting beautifully in the middle. Earlier, Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bowl first. That decision surprised some fans as chasing in second innings could be a tricky task. The pitch looks good for batting. England decided to drop Moeen Ali, the spinner, for Tongue and the fast bowler has delivered immediately.
Good news for Warner as he may have missed the hundred but he managed to stroke a 66 at Lord's. He had been in terrible form since IPL but scored at a quick rate in the first innings of the 2nd Test. His knock included 8 fours and 1 six respectively. These runs could inspire him to play much better innings in matches to come.
