Joe Root (91) and Jonny Bairstow (78) scored an outstanding fifty as England stepped up their blistering run-spree against Australia in the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval on Saturday.
England, in a match they have to win to square the series at 2-2, were 363-6 in their second innings at the time of going to press on the third day—an imposing lead of 351 runs.
Root shared 110-run stand Bairstow for the fifth wicket.
Earlier, Stokes (42) and Harry Brook (seven) departed in quick succession to leave the home side 222-4, but Bairstow kept up the attack as he joined Yorkshire teammate Root in the middle.
England’s lead was already significant given there have only been five successful chases of more than 200 runs to win in the fourth innings during 143 years of Test cricket at The Oval.
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Zak Crawley, the leading run-scorer in the series, launched England’s innings in style to take the hosts to 130-1 at lunch. Crawley added just two runs to his lunch score of 71 when, going for another off-drive, he edged Australia captain Pat Cummins to Steve Smith at second slip, with England now 140-2.
Root then demonstrated the range of his strokeplay by reverse-scooping Mitchell Marsh for a superbly timed six and next ball gliding the all-rounder down the legside for four. The former England captain then drove Starc down the ground for four, with even his mishits going for boundaries—next ball an under-edged cut off the left-arm quick bounced over the head of wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
412
No. of runs scored by England’s Joe Root in the five-Test Ashes series
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