Standing 1-0 down in the series, England needed that win. The win to justify their Test cricket which has been looking like going down. The win to not lose the Ashes urn with two matches still to be played. The win to give cricket world another thrill.
Having lost 1st match from a balanced situation and drawing the 2nd one, England's outing in the 1st innings of the third match was something event worse than the first two. The openers failed, Jason Roy couldn't even justify his selection in all the three Tests. England were bowled out for just 67 runs, and were looking for something extraordinary to happen. And that did happen. Some of the top moments from the 3rd Ashes match:
1- Stokes' 3-in-1 batting
When Joe Denly left the crease after building a solid partnership with Joe Root, Stokes came in. His job was to play defensively at overs left behind in day 3. He did exactly that. He went into full defensive mode and played out 50 balls for just two runs but, of course, runs didn't matter at that stage. The thing that mattered the most was wickets in hands.
Ben Stokes played all types of innings in his quest to win England a historic Test. On 3rd day, he played like a proper defensive batsman. Then, on day 4, arose a Ben Stokes we're familiar with in the ODI format. When the 9th wicket fell, and England required 73 runs to win from a hell lot of balls but a single wicket in hand, he, at times, changed himself into a beast many T20 batsmen would envy.
When Broad left him, his only option was to go hard against the bowling and expose Leach to Aussie bowling as less as possible. And even Leach has to block a few balls to keep the game alive. In one case, Leach had to block the 4 remaining balls of the over when Ben Stokes took a singe too early in the over.
Stokes dragged some of the deliveries from Cummins and Hazlewood for six, effortlessly getting under them. But the viewers and commentators went crazy when he switch-hit Nathan Lyon into the Western Terrace. Then, he scooped Cummins for a six.
On his way to a match-winning and history-making 135* which included 8 sixes and 11 fours, he went into all-format modes at the required times and pulled of this amazing run chase.
2- Australia's blunders
In an incredible chase by England, you can't say that Australia didn't have their chances. They had 'em but they fumbled 'em. When the chase got more and more exciting, pressure kept on increasing, tensions kept on building, Australia frustratingly burnt their review on an LBW decision which was never one. Leach's off-stump was clearly visible as he was hit on his pad on a full ball that easily pitched outside leg. But Australia took one of the most bizarre reviews in the frustration you will ever see. That was the only reviews they had at the moment.
A few moments later, when Lyon was bowling and offside field was up, Stokes reverse swept straight into the hands of the fielder who threw it to Lyon to make the formality of dislodging the stumps as Leach was nowhere close, in fact, in the middle of the pitch. Lyon, in the craziness of the moment, tried to hurry and fumbled the ball. Even he keeper and slip fielders were coming down to celebrate the victory but the it just turned in its head.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
On the very next delivery, Stokes tried to sweep a straight delivery from him and missed. It wrapped him on the pads, Australia went up for the appeal for all the strength they had in their vocal cords. Joel Wilson was unmoved. And Australia had no reviews left because they wasted it on a terrible decision earlier. Ball-tracking showed three reds some moments after.
3- A collapse followed by another
On the first day, which was rain-affected, Australia were at a moment 25/2. David Warner, who had been in a terrible form, and Australia's like-for-like replacement, Marnus Labuschagne, built a strong partnership from thereon. They put 111 runs together and brought Australia in a strong position. But Warner's wicket proved a catalyst to Australia's collapse. From 136/2 to 179/10, Australia lost the momentum which was provided by Warner and Labuschagne.
But that wasn't to be the only collapse of the match. England did it in a more terrible way. In their first innings,Roy failed again, Root made a duck again and the collapsed to 67/10. Although this collapse was redeemed by England and Stokes quite beautifully in the 2nd innings which saw them chasing a whooping total of 359.
Post a Comment