Australia prevailed over England by two wickets in the first Ashes Test, which was played last week at Edgbaston. The visitors held their nerves as Pat Cummins (44*) and Nathan Lyon (16*) stitched an unbeaten partnership of 55 runs and took their side across the line in the chase of 281. The Ben Stokes-led side now eye redemption as both sides gear up for the second Test, which will get underway on June 28. Ahead of the crucial clash at Lord’s, England opener Zak Crawley has made a bold prediction.
Speaking to Times Radio, the 25-year-old batter has predicted that the second Ashes Test will be won by England at least by a margin of 150 runs.
“I think we’ll win [at Lord’s]. I think the pitch will suit us a bit more so I think we’ll win by, I don’t know, 150 runs?,” Crawley told Times Radio.
Speaking about the loss, the opening batter stated that the team’s morale has not been affected despite facing a defeat in the first game as they were able to showcase their attacking style of Test cricket and entertain the crowd.
“We’re not about results. We’re not about winning or losing, we’re about entertainment. That’s why we took [this loss] better than other losses perhaps, because it was great for the game,” Crawley said.
“Of course we’re there to win and it helps our brand and what we’re trying to do. If we win, we get more traction. But I don’t think we’ve lost anything this week other than a game of cricket,” he added.
Apart from Crawley, England veteran pacer James Anderson also warned Australia that the Ben Stoked-led team would be “more positive, more aggressive, more entertaining” when they look to level the Ashes series at Lord’s next week.
“I think we’ll go more positive, more aggressive, more entertaining. We want to try and make sure people go home happy as they did each day at Edgbaston,” said 40-year-old Anderson who endured a tough first Test in which he took just one wicket.
He added: “Just because we’re 1-0 down I don’t think we’ll try anything different. I think we showed enough last week to show we can win the next four if we keep playing like that and iron a few things out. We’ll go exactly the same.”
(With AFP Inputs)
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