The third Ashes Test between at Headingley was fascinatingly poised at the end of a remarkable Day Three as England’s batsman finally showed some grit against Australia’s formidable pace attack.
Joe Root’s men started the day trailing Australia heavily after being bundled out for just 67 runs in their first-innings but they had managed to reach 156-3 in their attempt at a record fourth-innings chase of 359 by the time stumps were drawn on Saturday.
There is still a long way to go for the hosts if they are to restore parity in the five-match series with 203 runs still needed for a famous victory but they will go into the fourth day with a renewed sense of confidence.
At the end of a hard-fought day at Leeds, we take a look at the key takeaways.
Magnificent Labuschagne extends Australia’s lead
Australia started the day at 171-6 with their overall second-innings lead standing at 283 and they were given a solid start by Marnus Labuschagne and James Pattinson.
Having registered his third successive fifty since coming in as Steve Smith’s replacement, Labuschagne continued to impress despite taking another nasty blow to his helmet off the bowling of Jofra Archer.
The right-hander shared a 51-run stand with Pattinson for the seventh wicket and it was vital to Australia gaining a substantial second-innings lead. He was the penultimate Australia batsman to be dismissed on Saturday after being run-out for a valiant 80 but his display meant that the visitors have barely felt Smith’s absence in the clash.
Marnus Labuschagne played 187 balls in this innings and most of them were ferocious short balls. He has used bat, helmet and body to survive. It will be regarded as one of the bravest innings in Test cricket history.
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) August 24, 2019
Roy’s horrendous run continues
Despite an improved batting showing from the hosts that followed later in the day, England’s second innings got off to a horrendous start with the openers falling cheaply once again.
Jason Roy’s loose dismissal in the first-innings while attempting to drive a wide Josh Hazlewood delivery had seen the pressure magnify on the England opener but there wasn’t much he could do against a snorter of a delivery from Pat Cummins on Saturday that took the top of his off-stump.
That dismissal means the right-hander has now been dismissed for single-digit scores in each of his last four innings while his series aggregate after three Tests is a mere 58 runs.
It will be hard now for the hosts to justify Roy’s selection for the remainder of the series with the batsman looking like fish out of water in the Test format. His only saving grace is the fact that openers from both sides have struggled in the series.
Jason Roy's average as a Test opener is 8.85 runs per dismissal, only one player in the history of Test cricket to have opened as many times as Roy (7 times) has a lower average: New Zealand's Ken Rutherford who averaged 4.60 from ten innings as opener. #Ashes
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) August 24, 2019
Root and Denly raise England’s hopes
An encore of England’s embarrassing first-inning collapse was looking like a real possibility when Roy and fellow opener Rory Burns were dismissed in quick succession but a remarkable 126-run stand for the third wicket between Joe Root and Joe Denly revived the hosts.
Both batsmen lived dangerous at the start of their innings with Josh Hazlewood breathing fire but they soon found their feet at the crease after weathering the initial storm. For once, Denly managed to convert a promising start into a half-century before he was finally dismissed late in the day to give Australia an opening.
At the other end, Root brought up his first half-century in five innings to recover from his recent slump and the England skipper was looking solid with an unbeaten 75 by the time stumps were drawn. The pressure was very much on the Yorkshire man on his home ground after registering a duck in the first-innings but he responded excellently with a captain’s innings at a time when his side desperately needed it.
England have never successfully chased more than 322 runs since 1928 in the final innings of a Test match and Root will be key if the hosts are to pull off the improbable on the penultimate day at Headingley.
England reach stumps three down, needing 203 to win, and with their Ashes hopes just about alive.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 24, 2019
A terrific effort from Joe Root, Joe Denly and Ben Stokes 👏#Ashes pic.twitter.com/7bnHTEvwW6