In the fifth and final test of the Ashes series, which took place on Saturday at The Oval in London, England made a significant step toward drawing even in the series thanks to a magnificent century combination between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
At the end of the third day of the match, England’s second innings score was 389-9, giving them a dominating lead of 377 runs in the series. England has to win this match in order to even the series at 2-2.
Root (91) and Bairstow (78) were both in fantastic form during a fifth-wicket partnership of 110, with the only disappointment for a maximum home audience being the fact that neither Yorkshireman was able to reach an individual hundred. Root and Bairstow were both in superb shape during a fifth-wicket stand of 110.
After suffering a beating at the hands of England’s top order, Australia were given a glimpse of hope thanks to a late flurry of wickets, with Mitchell Starc grabbing 4-94.
However, some of the loudest applause of the day were heard when the final man, James Anderson, got off the mark by reverse sweeping Todd Murphy for four runs and then conventionally sweeping the off-spinner for another boundary in the very next delivery.
However, since England has the edge at the moment, it is necessary for Australia to score at least the joint ninth-highest total in order to win in the fourth innings of a test match if they were to pull off an extremely unlikely triumph.
It didn’t take long for England to fall to a score of 222-4 after the wickets of Zak Crawley and Harry Brook, who had both scored impressive scores of 73.
But Bairstow, one of the heroes of the “Bazball” era, kept up the aggressive run rate by scoring 34 runs off 35 balls as England reached 265-4 at lunch time.
Bairstow reached the landmark score of fifty with a cover-drive off Josh Hazlewood. This was his seventh boundary in a total of 60 balls faced by him.
Root, who was not out at tea with 61 runs on the board, surged into the 90s with an exquisite cover-driven four off of Pat Cummins, who was the captain of Australia.
After scoring an undefeated 118 in the first test match of the series at Edgbaston, Root was unable to get a second century of the series. He was dismissed with an off-break from Murphy that maintained low and bowled him between the bat and the pad.
Bairstow, who had just scored a scorching 99 not out in the rain-marred drawn fourth test at Old Trafford the previous week, also fell short of three figures when his flat-footed cut at left-arm fast bowler Starc was caught behind. This was only a week after Bairstow had scored 99 not out in the rain-marred drawn fourth test.
Earlier, England just needed one over to make up for the 12-run deficit they had going into the second inning in the first game that was played on Saturday.
Crawley, who had previously hit a cover-drive for four off the opening ball of the series, replicated the stroke off the first ball on Saturday, before left-hander Ben Duckett completed the over with consecutive boundaries. Crawley had previously scored four runs off the first ball of the series.
When Duckett, who was 42 at the time, edged a full-length ball from Starc to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, the opening partnership of 79 runs came to an end.
Crawley, who is now dominating the series in run scoring, brought England to 130-1 before lunch.
Ben Stokes, the captain of England, batted himself up the order after Moeen was sidelined all day Friday with a groin strain and was therefore ruled out of batting in his number three position. Stokes made sure that the runs continued to come in by ensuring that they were scored.
Following lunch, in the first over of the second half, Stokes hit Hazlewood for six, and Starc misplayed a catch on the fine leg boundary.
Crawley only added two more to his lunch total of 71 when he edged Australia’s captain Pat Cummins to Steve Smith at second slip, bringing England’s score to 140-2 at that point.
Charge with roots
After that, Root displayed the breadth of his strokeplay by reverse-scooping Mitchell Marsh for a brilliantly timed six and then gliding the all-rounder down the legside for four with the next ball.
The former England captain next smashed Starc down the ground for four, with even his mishits falling for boundaries. The following ball, an under-edged cut bounced over Carey’s head after it was struck by an under-edged cut.
However, Root’s uppercut shot off Starc, which gave him his third four in as many balls, was not a fluke and was done on purpose.
At the score of 42, Stokes was the one who lost his wicket when he was caught by Murphy at mid-on off a mistimed drive.
As the current owners of the urn, Australia has successfully defended the Ashes by a score of 2-1.
However, they cannot afford to lose at The Oval if they are to claim victory in the Ashes series in England for the first time since 2001.