Stunning Comeback: England Defeats Australia by 3 Wickets, Keeps Ashes Dreams Alive
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England have won the third Test and kept their hopes alive in the Ashes 2023 (Source: AP Photo)
The third Ashes test comes to an end on day 4 with England defeating Australia by 3 wickets in a low scoring thriller at Headingley keeping the Ashes alive. The day did not start well for the Australians as they continued to keep losing wickets at regular intervals. Despite a well compiled 77 from Head which helped them set a respectable target the Australian Batsmen could not survive against the english pace attack consisting of Broad, Woakes and Wood and the guile of Moeen Ali and were bowled out for 224.
England replied in positive fashion by putting up an opening stand of 42, Mitchell Starc ran through the English Batsmen with his Exceptional 5-fer to give Australia a Chance. In spite of that fiery spell from Starc, the phenomenal innings of 75 from Brook and the Handy 32* Chris Woakes made sure England chased down the target with 3 wickets to spare and keep their Ashes hopes alive.
England's Top Partnerships Light Up Second Innings
Finest England partnerships in 2nd innings
This has been one of the most entertaining test matches we have seen so far where both sides had come into the match at certain stages. The deciding factor for England were the small partnerships that were formed in the middle. The opening partnership between Crawley and Duckett had set the tone for the England innings. This partnership of 42 from 55 balls made sure they were in a comfortable position to chase down the target.
The partnership of 38 from 56 balls also steadied the English innings for a while till Joe Root was dismissed by a delivery going down leg. The Match defining partnership was the seventh wicket partnership between Harry Brook and Chris Woakes which consisted of 59 runs from 73 balls which came at the time where England were struggling at 171-6.
We can see out of the three partnerships Harry Brook was involved in two of them which speaks a lot about his innings of 75 from 93 deliveries which was a much needed knock when England had a bit of a collapse in the middle and the handy cameo of 32 of 47 from Woakes should be applauded as well.
England Bowlers Take Center Stage: Dominating the Ashes
The England bowlers deserve all the praise they can get in this Test match especially in the second innings. The contribution of Broad has been phenomenal in this series and he has proved his worth in this match as well.
The big story of this match has been Mark Wood who has come back after a devastating injury with a fiery 5-fer in the first innings and a good couple of wickets in the second making him the Man of the match.
It is also important to mention Chris Woakes spell as well with taking 3 wickets each in both the innings. His spell in the second innings included three big wickets of Khawaja, Marsh and Carey which brought the game in England's favour.
Conclusion
Overall this has been another nail biting finish in this series where the momentum was shifting in every session. The England bowling attack looked very good compared to the last two matches where all bowlers contributed including Moeen Ali who broke the backbone of Australia with massive wickets of Labuschagne and Smith.
Unlike the last two tests the Australian batsmen failed to convert their starts into big innings which was the major failure they faced in this whole game. With two matches to go this series has come to a balance which will make it captivating.
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