'England's Bazball finally hurts Australia' - Can Ben Stokes & co deliver on Day 3?

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Summary:

  • England is in a strong position after Zach Crawley's magnificent innings against Australia at Old Trafford.
  • Australia struggled to contain England's batting onslaught, with the forecast looking grim for the following days.
  • Zach Crawley's impressive display divided opinions, but he received support from the England setup and proved his worth on the field.
  • Australia faces a tough challenge ahead to avoid ending the series with a 2-2 draw.

England have given themselves a terrific chance of beating the weather here at Old Trafford thanks to a magnificent innings from Zach Crawley. His 189 has put them on course for a very handy lead here and for the first time in this series it really felt like Australia had lost control in the face of a baz ball onslaught.


They didn't have an answer to a lunch and tea, especially as England flayed 178 runs in 25 overs, going at more than 7 runs per over to buy them the time they are likely to need. The forecast is still dire for Saturday. There are now some showers forecast for tomorrow, and it's not great for Sunday, so they may not have much time to force the result, but they're already ahead, and they'll look to add some more in the morning before unleashing the bowlers on Australia again. There were just one or two signs that the pitch might start to play a few tricks as well. Joru was bowled by one that didn't get above ankle height, and then Ben Stokes took one in the shoulder that bounced from Josh Hazelwood just a few balls later.

England will want a few more runs to guard against a tricky chase on a fourth innings pitch, but they are well placed to push for that now after the magnificent batting of Zach Crawley. He's a player that divides opinion, and with a test average of 30, he fails as much as he succeeds, but he's been given a huge amount of faith from this England setup of Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes, and that paid dividends today. At times, Australia didn't know where to bowl to him. He had some strokes of fortune along the way, but he certainly made the most of them, and after passing three figures, it was a majestic display until he dragged on to Cameron Green—a bit of a weary shot in the final session—but he walked off to a fully deserved standing ovation. The next few days are going to be a huge test for Australia. They've looked off the pace in this game. Their first innings total of 317 proved to be below par compared to England's display.

When the batsmen come in again, they're going to have to fight hard and guard against the thought of playing for the draw with this weather looming. We don't know what will happen over the next couple of days, but Australia is going to have to fight now to avoid going to the oval 2-2.


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