Ashes 3rd Test: Day 3 Talking Points – England chase 251 for victory
Day 3 of the third Test at Headingley finally got underway after almost six hours of rain delay. Though the play wasn’t expected to resume, the players managed to get some time on the field. While Australian batters put up some crucial runs, the English bowlers picked up crunch wickets to start off the proceedings.
England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley started off on a positive note and remained unbeaten as they will carry the game forward on the fourth day. England finished at 27/0, and need 224 runs to win with 10 wickets and two full days in hand.
Australia started the day’s play at 116/4, with Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh on the field. Having played just one over, the covers were back on, but the game resumed within a few minutes. The delay didn’t do any good for the visitors as they lost Mitchell Marsh in just the third over of the day as Chris Woakes worked the magic for the hosts.
Australia faced a mini-collapse in the middle as wickets kept falling, courtesy of the pacers. Travis Head tried to anchor the innings and notched up a half-century, but he was the last batter to walk out when Stuart Broad picked him. As a result, Australia were dismissed with 224 runs on board and posted a 251-run target for the hosts to take the series to 2-1.
Here are the talking points from Day 3 of the third Test:
Travis Head’s half-century
Middle-order batter Travis Head carved out a beautiful knock as he notched up 77 runs off 112 deliveries before being dismissed by Stuart Broad. Even though he did not receive much help from the batters at the other end, he managed to build the innings as much as possible and added the crucial runs in order to take Australia to a decent total.
England pacers wreak havoc
Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, and Stuart Broad worked in tandem in the little time that they had on the field on the third day. The pitch supported the pacers really well even after all the rain, and the pace-trio managed to take Australia down quickly, allowing them to score only 108 runs.
England openers off to a flying start
Walking out to bat in the final few overs of the day, Ben Duckett (18* off 19) and Zak Crawley (9* off 11) stitched up a 27-run partnership off 30 deliveries. The top-order batters failed to put up a show in the first innings, but their promising start has set the path for England’s victory.
