Hobbling Nathan Lyon shows bravery to help Australia set Ashes target of 371

Australia sent a limping Nathan Lyon out to bat on one leg at Lord’s as their stricken number 11 helped leave a formidable chase of 371 on the fourth day of the second Ashes Test.

England’s ‘Bazball’ era experienced one of its most bewildering days yet as the home side bowled relentless bumpers for more than four and a half hours, with Australia bafflingly timid as they ate up time and queued up to gradually donate their wickets.

Things took an even stranger turn at 264 for nine – with Australia already 355 ahead – when Lyon hopped down the steps of the pavilion to face up at number 11. Barely able to walk after suffering a serious calf strain on the second evening, and almost certainly out of the series, he received a warm ovation for bravely taking up a challenge few expected him to accept.

But the 35-year-old was rendered almost entirely immobile and appeared to badly aggravate the problem when he was forced to hobble through for a single following a sensational diving save on the boundary from substitute fielder Rehan Ahmed.

The overwhelming majority of shots from Lyon and Mitchell Starc came to nothing, with fielders spread on the ropes and no prospect of any further running, but Lyon got one boundary away in a stand of 15 that occupied 25 painful minutes.

If England are to win and level the series 1-1 they will need a ground record, comfortably surpassing the 344 for one managed by the West Indies in 1984. Yet they have established a well-earned reputation for chasing down unlikely totals and hunted down 378 against India last summer with seven wickets to spare.

Lyon was last man out, top-edging Stuart Broad as the seamer wrapped up figures of four for 65, as Australia turned their overnight score of 130 for two into 279 all out.