ENG vs AUS Headingley Test: A mini 26-run stand for the 5th wicket between first innings saviours Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh inspired hope in the Aussie camp as they lead England by 142 runs at the end of the third Day of the Headingley Test. After bowling England out for 237 in the first innings, Australia did not had the best of times with the bat. They lost Warner and then after a stand, the Aussies went 4 down quickly.
Australia did not get a great start with Stuart Broad doing his normal thing of getting rid of David Warner for the 17th time in Tests. While Warner attracted just 1 run from his short stay, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne saw off the new ball threat, adding 57 for the second wicket before Labushcagne holed out to Harry Brook at deep mid-wicket to fall for 33. Steven Smith endured a modest run on his 100th Test as he bagged just 2 in the second innings, falling to Moeen Ali. Khawaja's stay was then shortened by Chris Woakes to send him back for 43.
But at the end, the Aussies would be of some relief to see a 142-run lead on the board and with 6 wickets still in hand, another 150 can be a possibility.
A proper pendulum-swinging day
Just like the first day, the second day was also a proper pendulum swinging one for both sides. Australia dominated the first sessions with four wickets to their name. Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, all fell before lunch at Day 2, leaving England at 142/7 and a big trail upon them.
Ben Stokes special
But despite the inroads by the Aussies, Ben Stokes played another special knock of 80 runs to cut down the deficit as he helped his team go from 142/7 to 237/10 in the second session. With the decent hand of Mark Wood, who smoked 24 runs from 8 balls, England's deficit was cut to only 26 runs. It was this very own ground four years ago when Stokes played that magical knock to keep the Ashes alive and he might have done some good too in the first innings this time.
Apart from Stokes, no other English batter managed to touch the 40-run mark. The next batter was Zak Crawley, who made 33 in the start. However, the inning also saw Aussie skipper Pat Cummins bag a six-wicket haul, which helped Australia bowl England out for 237.
