England v Australia: latest betting and analysis on the second Ashes Test

Second Test: England v Australia
TV: Sky Sports Cricket, from 11am Saturday

Scorecard from Lord's

Day four report

England are 96-4, with a lead of 104, at the close of play on day four of the second Ashes Test at Lord's and the draw is now a 4-9 shot after a pulsating afternoon of action in north London.

Resuming on 80-4, Australia battled to 250 with Steve Smith once again playing a starring role with the bat for the tourists.

Smith compiled a fine 92 to get Australia to a competitive total despite being on the receiving end of a barrage of short-pitched deliveries from England quick Jofra Archer.

Archer, who touched speeds of 96mph, struck Smith on the forearm and then again in the neck, forcing the batsman to temporarily retire hurt on 80 not out. He would resume his innings after the dismissal of Peter Siddle but could only add 12 runs to his total before being trapped lbw by Chris Woakes.

While Archer was lethal, Stuart Broad was the pick of the England bowlers, and he added the wickets of Matthew Wade and Pat Cummins on Saturday to claim figures of 4-65.

With a slender advantage, England began tentatively in the second innings and Jason Roy's red-ball struggles continued when he was out caught and bowled by Cummins for just two. Captain Joe Root was then dismissed for a first-ball duck before Joe Denly and Rory Burns steadied the ship.

Peter Siddle broke that 53-run parternership to reduce England to 64-3 and he snared Burns soon after before Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes saw out the remainder of the day.

Australia will be aiming to finish the England innings early on Sunday morning in order to set-up a reachable chase. The tourists are 3-1 to move into a 2-0 lead with three Ashes Tests still to play while an England win is improbable but not impossible and they are 13-2 to draw level.

Day three report

The second Test between England and Australia is 2-5 to end in a draw after only 24.1 overs were possible on another rain-affected day at Lord's.

England made inroads before the rain came, reducing the Aussies to 80-4 in reply to the hosts' first-innings total of 258, and they are 100-30 to level the series at 1-1.

Australia finished the third day at 15-2 to win the Test but key batsman Steve Smith remains unbeaten on 13 and he is 7-2 with bet365 to score a third century in three innings in this series.

Jofra Archer claimed his first Test wicket, pinning Cameron Bancroft lbw for 13 before Chris Woakes dismissed Usman Khawaja for 36 and Stuart Broad, who had bowled David Warner on the second evening, got rid of Travis Head.

Smith is 8-11 with bet365 to be Australia's top first-innings runscorer while clubhouse leader Khawaja is a 13-2 chance with Sky Bet.

Australia's runs line is trading at 225.5 with Betway and the Aussies, who won the first Test at Edgbaston by 251 runs, are 4-6 for a series victory.

The first day of the match was a complete washout but the forecast for the final two days looks more promising with sunny intervals and occasional showers expected.

Day two report

After a day-one washout at Lord's, the draw was 4-5 at the start of play on the second day of the second Ashes Test but Australia's bowlers ensured the game moved on apace by bowling out England for 258.

Stuart Broad then bowled Aussie dangerman David Warner for three – the opener's third failure of the series – but England finished the day as 100-30 outsiders for victory.

Australia are 15-8 to win the Test and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series while the draw, backed in from 6-1 to around evens before the start of the match, is 11-10.

Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja will resume for Australia on Friday with rain forecast to disrupt the afternoon's play at Lord's.

Steve Smith, fresh from his twin centuries at Edgbaston, is Sky Bet's 13-8 favourite to top-score for the Aussies, whose first-innings runs line is 279.5 with bet365.

Australia made the perfect start after winning the toss and seeing Josh Hazlewood dismiss England opener Jason Roy for a third-ball duck.

Joe Root soon followed, lbw to Hazlewood, but Rory Burns and Joe Denly guided England to lunch at 76-2, at which point Betway were quoting their runs line at 306.5.

A familiar collapse followed after the interval as England slipped from 93-2 to 138-6 before Jonny Bairstow (52) and Chris Woakes (32) dragged them to 258 all out.

Bairstow was the last man out, one run short of Burns's 53. The Surrey opener had been 6-1 to top-score in England's first innings, as he had done with 133 in the first Test at Edgbaston.

Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon claimed three wickets apiece in England's innings.

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