London: Australia made a good start to the second Ashes Test, finishing the first day at Lord's on 339/5.
On the first day, Australia put some distance between themselves and England's seam attack thanks to half-centuries from David Warner (66), Travis Head (77), and Steve Smith (85*), with Ben Stokes replacing the injured Moeen Ali with an additional pace option rather than a spinner.
Josh Tongue, the supplementary pacer, ended the day with stats of 2/88 and was the best of England's quick bowlers. He successfully removed both of Australia's openers.
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However, despite the cloudy weather, England's bowlers managed to stump the Australian top order with unexpected ease.
Late in the game, Joe Root's two wickets in one over gave England some hope, but Australia had the best day overall. Nathan Lyon became just the sixth player in history to be chosen for 100 straight Tests, and Steve Smith amassed more Test runs (9000) in fewer innings than any other Australian batter.
Conditions appeared to be favouring England when they chose to bowl first after winning the toss because there was a lot of cloud cover, rain was not far away, and there was a hint of green to the surface.
However, despite two brief rain delays and a pitch invasion by protesters that reduced the number of overs bowled, Australia's openers performed admirably.
Usman Khawaja was out in the morning's final over when Josh Tongue made the crucial catch by nipping one back to dismiss the Australian opener. 73 runs were added before lunch.
In a similar way, Tongue also won the second game after David Warner was out for an outstanding 66 from 80 balls after being beaten through the gate.
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The two made England work hard during the afternoon session as they picked off the loose balls and increased the scoring rate in a brilliant session for the home team. However, that sent Steve Smith to the crease alongside Marnus Labuschagne.
After tea, Ollie Robinson broke a stand of 102 by denying Labuschagne a half-century with a delivery that had a wobble-seam that the number three could only flutter behind to Jonny Bairstow.
The lack of a front-line spinner and Ben Stokes' limited ability to bowl more than a single over made it difficult for England's fast bowlers to stop the flow of runs as Smith and Head established a sizable first-innings foundation.
Although Smith was at his intimidating best, Travis Head really attacked England, scoring his half-century faster than a run-a-ball.
When Head charged down the wicket and was caught by Jonny Bairstow off Joe Root, he departed for 77 when he appeared to be on his way to a century.
Cameron Green was out without scoring after slicing a drive to James Anderson in the deep, and Root took two wickets in an over to offer England hope.
To guarantee that it will still be in good condition when play resumes on Thursday, when further cloud cover and rain showers are predicted in north London, England delayed taking the new ball and gave themselves just two overs with the fresh cherry.
Smith surpassed the milestone of 9000 Test runs during his innings at Lord's, accomplishing it in 174 innings, the quickest time an Australian has ever done so. In the history of the game, only Kumar Sangakkara has gotten there in less innings.
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