- By JE Sports Desk
- Fri, 07 Jul 2023 11:22 PM (IST)
- Source:REUTERS
Key wickets late in the day helped put England with a chance of staying in contention in the Ashes series in their must-win second test, Australia finishing day two on 116-4 with a second-innings lead of 142.
More heroics from captain Ben Stokes single-handedly got England within 26 runs of Australia's first innings total after a big-hitting 80, the hosts skittled out for 237.
Despite losing the early wicket of David Warner for one, to Stuart Broad for the 17th time in the veteran bowler's test career, Australia looked to be in control and coasting towards generating a commanding lead.
But the cheap wickets of experienced duo Marnus Labuschagne (33) and Steve Smith (2) dragged England back into the match, before first-innings centurion Mitchell Marsh steered Australia through to the close of another thrilling day of Ashes action.
Earlier in the day, captain Ben Stokes played another memorable innings as he single-handedly guided England to a more respectable 237 all out in their first innings on day two of the third Ashes test on Friday, before Australia moved on to 29-1 in reply at tea.
With England struggling on 142-7 at lunch, Mark Wood came in after the restart and got a quick-fire 24 off eight balls to take the hosts a little closer to Australia's total, with Stokes looking on in disbelief down the other end.
The fast bowler was then caught after one slog too many to give Australia skipper Pat Cummins his first five-wicket haul in England, before Stokes took on the big-hitting mantle, passing 50 with a huge hit.
While England's scoring rate in the morning session was uncharacteristically slow, Stokes ensured the runs continued to flow, despite struggling with the knee injury that plagued his pre-Ashes build-up.
Back-to-back sixes took Stokes past 6,000 test runs before he finally fell for 80 to bring an end to England's first innings, trailing Australia by only 26 runs, thanks to their captain.