"I didn't think I would ever see a day of drama quite like that ever again" - Ian Smith compares Day 5 of 2nd Ashes Test with 2019 World Cup final

Ian Smith has highlighted that the Day 5 of the second Ashes Test was almost as dramatic as the 2019 World Cup final.

England were reduced to 193/6 in pursuit of a 371-run fourth-innings target at Lord's on Sunday (July 2) when they lost Jonny Bairstow's wicket slightly controversially. However, Ben Stokes played a swashbuckling 155-run knock to give them hopes of achieving the target but his dismissal triggered a collapse and they eventually lost the match by 43 runs.

During an interaction on the SEN podcast 'Mornings with Matt White', Smith was asked about his thoughts on Stokes adopting a belligerent approach once Bairstow was dismissed, to which he responded:

"I was there in 2019 at the Cricket World Cup where England won that, and I didn't think I would ever see a day of drama quite like that ever again. But this is matching it, it's gone very close to it anyway."

The former New Zealand wicketkeeper pointed out that Bairstow's dismissal was a huge blow for England:

"There are a few things that come into play here. He (Bairstow) was an incredibly important wicket for Australia to get. They were just handed it on a plate. Bairstow and Stokes was basically the partnership that was going to get England as close as they could."

Bairstow was stumped by Alex Carey off Cameron Green's bowling. The England wicketkeeper-batter wandered down the pitch before the umpire signaled the end of the over and was found out of his crease by a direct hit from Carey.

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"He had no trust in anyone from Broad downwards" - Ian Smith on Ben Stokes' aggressive approach

Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad strung together a 108-run seventh-wicket partnership.

While observing that Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad strung together a crucial partnership, Smith pointed out that the England skipper had no option but to take the aggressive route:

"In the end, it eventually was Broad and Stokes that put together it but it was driven by Stokes and he had to change the game, the way England attacked that whole task because he had no trust in anyone from Broad downwards."

The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted the significance of Bairstow's wicket for both sides:

"He had trust while Jonny Bairstow was there. So he lost a really key ally. That's why it mattered to England so much. If you ask Pat Cummins if it was 60 or 70 to win and Jimmy Anderson had wandered out of his crease, would you have upheld the appeal knowing how Jimmy Anderson bats, if he said yes, that would be consistency."

Smith added:

"I don't know, that's just to bring another scenario into the whole thing. The key was that Bairstow was a massively important wicket for both England and Australia and it happened to him."

Stokes was on 62 runs off 126 deliveries when Bairstow was dismissed. He smoked 93 runs off the next 88 balls he faced, including eight sixes and five fours, but could not take his team across the line.