Ashes 2013: Five reasons why England will win the second Test at Lord's

Ian Bell of England celebrates scoring a century during day four of 1st Investec Ashes Test match

4. Key contributions

England’s batting might have collapsed in the first innings but almost every batsman eventually contributed in the space of two innings.

Jonathan Trott looked in good nick in the first innings, scoring a valuable knock of 48 whereas inexperience batsman Jonathan Bairstow chipped in with 37 runs in England’s meagre total of 215 runs.

Alastair Cook made amends for his early dismissal in the second innings by dropping anchor in the last session of day two alongside Kevin Pietersen to build a critical partnership. Kevin Pietersen’s knock of 64 does not augur well for Australia as he is a player who can get big runs when on song.

Ian Bell’s century was as instrumental to England’s win as James Anderson’s 10-wicket haul. This means that, with the exception of Mathew Prior whose last significant score came in March in the first Test against New Zealand, every batsmen has some runs to their name.