Injuries often show the true character of an athlete. On Day 4 of second Test of the Ashes 2023, when Australia needed as many runs they could put on the board to set England a big target, an injured Nathan Lyon stepped up. Lyon who was walking with the help of crutches on Day 3 showed exemplary level of courage. He walked down one stair at the time. As he entered the ground hobbling, the Lord’s crowd erupted and lauded the bravery of Lyon. Even English fans could not stop themselves from acknowledging the ‘never give up’ attitude of Lyon for his team.
Lyon joined Mitchell Starc in the middle as no.11 batter. Josh Hazlewood could score just one run from three balls as he fell into the short ball trap set by England captain Ben Stokes and got caught by short leg fielder Joe Root.
Lyon did not take a single off the first two balls he faced from Stokes. In the next over, Starc tried to score quick runs but could not find the boundary. But when he did find the middle of the bat, Rehan Ahmed jumped in the air and pushed the ball back into play. It led to Lyon taking a reluctant single. He almost jumped on one leg to make his ground and get Starc back on strike for the next over.
In the next over Starc managed to find one boundary against Josh Tongue. It was followed by Lyon facing an over from Broad where he got hit on the abdomen as well. In Tongue's next over, Starc managed to hit a six.
Broad continued to bowl short at Lyon and the off-spinner got off the mark with a boundary towards deep square leg. He got on one leg to play the pull shot. He was in visible pain but knew the importance of every run. But Lyon could not resist for long and got caught trying to play a pull shot.
He scored four runs from 13 deliveries and shared a 15-run partnership for the 10th wicket with Starc to help Australia post 279 and set a 371-run target.
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