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Australia took control of the proceedings in the second Ashes Test against England with an all-round performance on Day 3 (Friday) at the Lord's. They managed to reach 130/2 in the second innings at the stumps on the third day and extended their lead to 221 runs, with two days left in the contest.
England commenced the day with an overnight score of 278/4. Mitchell Starc dismissed Ben Stokes in the very first over to set the tone for Australia. In the absence of their lead spinner Nathan Lyon, Australian bowlers employed short-pitched bowling plans against the English batters. The strategy worked wonders as the home team lost their last six wickets for just 47 runs and got all out for 325 in the first session.
Usman Khawaja (58*) then continued his good form in the series as he hit another fluent half-century and took Australia to 130/2 before rain intervened proceedings in the third session. The persistent showers ruled out action for the rest of the session.
The cricketing action on Day 3 of the second Ashes Test entertained cricket fans. They expressed their reactions by sharing hilarious memes on social media platforms.
Here are some of the best memes:
"Sometimes instinct takes over and sometimes, you just can’t help it"- Kevin Pietersen on England's approach
Speaking to Sky Sports on Day 3 of the second Ashes Test, Kevin Pietersen analyzed England batters' approach against Australia's bouncer barrage. He empathized with the batters and revealed that, at times instincts take over, and one can't resist playing a shot while facing a bouncer at over 90 MPH. Pietersen said:
"When somebody is bowling at 90 miles an hour, you know this. It’s easy for a journalist to sit downstairs, who has never faced a cricket ball and start spraying. 'brainless this, brainless that'. 90 miles an hour, a delivery over your head, it rocks your foundation, it’s not comfortable and sometimes instinct takes over and sometimes, you just can’t help it."
On his own experiences from playing days, Kevin Pietersen added:
"I saw the best form of defense being attack. Every single time it happened it me, against Australia, with Morne Morkel at Leeds. Brett Lee in 2005, that’s when I started. When he bowled at the speed of light and certainly, I tried, defended one, it flew over Gully and I said, ‘I don’t think I can do this anymore’".
