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Ashes 2023 | Kumar Sangakkara Praises Ben Stokes' Shrewd Captaincy To Dismiss Usman Khawaja

image-lj2hcn1xEngland's unique field for Usman Khawaja [Source: Twitter]

Australia looked very much en route to taking a lead at the start of Day 3 of the ongoing first Test against England at Edgbaston, with both batter Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey looking well-settled. However, England skipper Ben Stokes' shrewd and unique captaincy, ensured Australia could not make easy runs, and suffered a collapse, which saw the home side gain a seven-run lead by lunch.

Stokes' field setting for the likes of Steven Smith already caught people's eyes on Day 2, but his plans against Khawaja surprised one-and-all. 

Batting on 141*, Khawaja had as many six fielders in front of him, against Ollie Robinson, who rattled his stumps after the opener made the mistake of coming down the track and playing a cheeky shot.

Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara ended up praising Stokes for his captaincy, which applied pressure on the Australian batters. Australia lost their last four wickets for just 14 runs. 

Speaking to SKY Sports, the Rajasthan Royals director of cricket further added that England might yet again make an aggressive declaration.

Here's what Sangakkara said

"It is set up wonderfully and there will be an exciting two sessions from here. I think it is pretty even but the way the innings ended I would give England (the edge). The thinking was brilliant, the captaincy was brilliant. England are not going to settle for draws and now it will be if they can dominate with the bat after lunch. An aggressive declaration may come."

"This is where England are ahead, especially Stokes. He understood singles wouldn’t matter to the tail-enders, they were going to come out swinging. The fields were really well set to create those chances, showing the Australians they needed to take chances." 

The rain ensured England batted just 10-odd over in their second innings on Sunday, with Australia nabbing the wickets of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett.

Ollie Pope (0*) and Joe Root (0*) will resume batting on Day 4 with England leading by 35 runs.