Whenever Australia has let themselves believe they are ahead in a recent Ashes match, Ben Stokes has shown up in front of them as a sort of reality check. In Headingley, England won by one wicket four summers ago; after all, hope had looked lost until he pulled a rabbit out of a hat.
The England captain’s important 80 in Leeds reduced Australia’s advantage to just 26 and put his team within striking distance. He came close to repeating that once-in-a-career hit with a 155 at Lord’s last week.
With all 10 wickets remaining, England just needs 224 runs to win the Ashes series, which they are currently trailing 0-2. Stokes’ presence is encouraging for England. Chris Woakes thinks that despite how “superhuman” the England captain is, his team won’t rely solely on him to secure success. “Making things a little bit simpler would be wonderful. We don’t want to constantly depend on Ben,” he remarked.
Although we are aware of his superhuman abilities, he can’t pull them off every time. We need to put in a solid effort from 1 to 11 in order to try to push us over the finish line. It’s a chance to do something unique. Excitement outnumbers nerves. We are ecstatic about the prospect of chasing down a score, winning the test, and maintaining our series lead.
Under the partnership of Ben Stokes and Brendan McCullum, chasing has been a particular strength for England. They found 250+ scores four times over the previous home summer. Woakes, however, was hesitant to immediately rule the visitors out of the competition. We are confident in our collective ability to chase down goals. It works for us. This team is constantly trying to take the initiative and thrust itself forward.
However, this game’s scores haven’t been particularly high, so you shouldn’t go into it assuming it will be simple. We must perform well on the field. It’s a thrilling day for both teams because Australia will believe that they are only 10 wickets away from claiming the Ashes series in England.
Woakes, who is on the field for the first time in this series, has been essential in laying the groundwork for England’s fourth-day bid for victory. He struck out Usman Khawaja last night, who was Australia’s best batsman in the series. He then caught first-inning centurion Mitchell Marsh behind the plate, and shortly after that, he finished out Alex Carey. The tourists went from 116/4 to 224 all out despite play starting as late as 4.45 PM; it took England just 20.1 overs to get the final six wickets.
“You always feel that if you do get that window, it’s not easy for the batting side,” Woakes said. “When it’s a long day of rain.” “We believed that was an opportunity for us to take, since small openings in test matches may make a big impact. By bowling them out, we performed well. At the conclusion of the first inning, if this opportunity had presented itself, I believe we would have seized it.
Travis Head, who counterattacked his way out of a short-ball bombardment to score a good 77, was mostly responsible for Australia’s ability to increase the overall advantage to 250. The squad has not won the Ashes in England since 2001, but Australia’s No. 5 is still optimistic that the circumstances and England’s strategy will give them the chance to put the past four years behind them.
“It’s good to have it back. At least here, Head said, we can atone for the mistakes of ’19. In the series, today is a crucial day. It would be absurd for any group to deny that there are nerves. There is a lot on the table now that we know what we are capable of and that they are capable of coming back to tie the game at 2-1.
“They’re going to play hard and aggressively, and hopefully that opens up opportunities.”
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