England captain Ben Stokes’ latest dashing counter-attack kept his side’s Ashes hopes alive in the third Test at Headingley on Friday.
Trailing 0-2 in the best-of-five series, England were in danger of conceding a large first-innings lead when they slumped to 142-7 at lunch on the second day in reply to Australia’s 263. But all-rounder Stokes’s brilliant 80 took them to 237 all out, a deficit of just 26 runs, despite Australia captain Pat Cummins’s fine return of 6-91.
Stokes also hit a blistering 155 in the second Test at Lord’s last week as England suffered a 43-run defeat. Friday’s innings revived memories of Stokes’s Ashes heroics at Headingley four years ago, when his astounding unbeaten century guided England to a remarkable one-wicket win.
Australia’s Pat Cummins celebrates the wicket of England’s Joe Root yesterday
Stuart Broad then removed David Warner for the 17th time in Tests, the left-hander caught in the slips for one as he fell to his nemesis yet again. It was an important breakthrough for England, a bowler down with paceman Ollie Robinson off the field with a back spasm he had suffered earlier in the match. At the time of going to press, Australia were 96-4 in their second innings—a lead of 122 runs. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh were batting on 13 and three respectively.
Also Read: Reliving Ben Stokes` top-five knocks in the history of Ashes
After losing local heroes Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow early in the day, England were seven wickets down when Chris Woakes fell to the last ball before lunch. But recalled fast bowler Mark Wood, having taken an impressive 5-34 on Thursday, then set about Australia’s bowlers, hitting a six first ball off left-arm quick Mitchell Starc.
It was the start of an eight-ball salvo that yielded 24 runs and got the deficit down to under a hundred runs before Wood holed out off fast bowler Cummins. Stokes then upped his tempo with three consecutive boundaries. But the England skipper was reprieved twice on 45 off successive deliveries from off-spinner Todd Murphy. He was dropped by Starc, running in from long-off, before Murphy—called up after Nathan Lyon’s tour-ending calf injury at Lord’s—then failed to hold a hard-hit return catch.
Brief scores
Australia 263 & 96-4 (U Khawaja 43, M Labuschagne 33; M Ali 2-30) v England 237 (B Stokes 80, Z Crawley 33; P Cummins 6-91, M Starc 2-59) scores incomplete)
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