Nathan Lyon, the premier off-spinner of Australia, walked out to bat under immense pain on day 4 of the second Ashes Test match at Lord’s in London. The 35-year-old bowler had sustained a calf injury in the field during the first innings of England on day 2 of the Test.
When Josh Hazlewood was dismissed by the English captain Ben Stokes on the third ball of the 97th over, Nathan Lyon hobbled out to the ground after going past the members in the iconic pavilion at Lord’s. He received thunderous applause from everyone in the stands, but especially from the Australian supporters in gold.
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In a scene reminiscent of Malcolm Marshall and Graeme Smith, the Aussie put his body on line for the team’s cause. Don’t forget, Nathan Lyon is currently playing his 100 consecutive Test match, the first bowler in the history of the game to achieve this monumental feat.
During his brief stay at the crease, “Garry” showcased great fortitude in the face of adversity. He tried to stick around in the middle as long as possible to let Mitchell Starc do bulk of the scoring. Nathan Lyon also played a few strokes of own, one of which went fizzling away to the boundary for four runs off Stuart Broad. Later in the same over, the England bowler had the last laugh as he managed to dismiss him on the fifth ball of the 102nd over.
With the fall of wicket of the 36-year-old cricketer, Australia were bowled out for 279 runs in their second innings. They ended up setting a daunting target of 371 runs for England to chase down in their bid to level the Ashes Test series at 1-1.