Sublime bowling display from Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes provided England with the upper hand over Australia as the visitors finished on 116/4 in response to hosts 237, taking a 142 runs lead during the Day 2 of the ongoing third Ashes Test here at Headingley on Friday.
At the time of stumps, Australia’s score read 116/4 with Mitchell Marsh (17) and Travis Head (18) unbeaten at the crease. The guests took a first-innings lead of 26 runs after bowling out England for 237 on Friday.
England resumed their dominant show against Australia as they kept visitors on their toes for runs. Australia lost star batter Marnus Labuschagne in the 25th over as the latter handed an easy catch to Harry Brook on Moeen’s delivery.
Moeen struck in the 27th over again as he removed Steve Smith for mere 2 runs. In the 34th over of the game, Usman Khawaja was removed by Chris Woakes for 43 runs. Australia en
Mitchell Marsh (17) and Travis Head (18) carried Australia to stumps with 142 runs lead.
Earlier, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne made steady progress, extending their team’s lead On Day 2 of the third Test of the Ashes 2023 series at the Headingley Stadium. Despite an early setback caused by Stuart Broad, the Australian batter remained resilient and focused on building their advantage.
At the end of the second session, Australia managed to put up a score of 29/1 in 12 overs with Khawaja and Labuschagne unbeaten at the crease with scores of 20(34)* and 7(33)* respectively.
Australia looked to begin the second innings with positive intent as Khawaja and David Warner looked to gather runs at a brisk pace. However, Broad came up to dismiss Warner (1) for the 17th time and put England in control.
But, Labushagne and Khawaja restricted the damage by holding on to their wickets and keeping the scoreboard ticking. Australia managed to take a lead of 55 runs after suffering a massacre earlier in the innings.
Ben Stokes and Mark Wood began the second session in pure ‘Bazball’ style with Wood smashing two fours and one maximum on the first three balls of Mitchell Starc’s over.
However, he failed to keep up the momentum as Pat Cummins claimed his wicket to bring an end to his T20-style knock of 24(8). Stuart Broad stepped in and Stokes began his onslaught on the Australia bowlers.
Starc once again was on the receiving end with Stokes smashing him for three boundaries in a row. Cummins once again stepped in to restrict the damage by sending Broad back to the pavilion.
Stokes passed the 50 run-mark and continued to score boundaries for fun with just a wicket in hand. As he closed on to score his second consecutive Test century, Todd Murphy took matters into his own hand and claimed the wicket of the dangerous skipper for a score of 80(108). This wicket marked the end of England’s innings for a score of 237.
Earlier in the first session, England lost wickets quickly, which made the situation worse for them. Australian bowlers gave no chance for a comeback to England’s batters. In the 19.2 over, Pat Cummins took the wicket of Joe Root. A slight edge carried the ball into the safe hand of David Warner who was at first slip.
In the 24.3 over, Mitchell Starc got the wicket of Jonny Bairstow. He poor shot by Bairstow led the ball into the hands of Steve Smith who took a brilliant catch at second slip. Jonny Bairstow made 12 runs off 37 balls while hitting two boundaries. In the 39.4 over, Pat Cummins struck again this time he took the wicket of Moeen Ali. A top-edge led the ball high into the air only to fall into the hands of Steve Smith.
Moeen Ali scored 21 runs off 46 balls while hitting two boundaries. In the 42.1 over, Mitchell Starc took the wicket of Chris Woakes. He swing his bat but the ball knicked the edge and went into the gloves of wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Chris Woakes made 10 runs off 10 balls and hit one maximum.
Brief Score: Australia 263 & 116/4 (Travis Head 18*, Mitchell Marsh 17*; Moeen Ali 2-34) vs England 237 (Ben Stokes 80(108), Mark Wood 24(8) and Pat Cummins 6-91)
