There would never be a peaceful Saturday at The Oval. On day three of this fifth Ashes Test, England turned the level back up to 11 with a sensory overload of a second innings to seize control of this exciting series. Australia had tried and failed on day two to calm the crowd here, but England had turned the volume back up to 11 on day three.
With a delivery that Harry Brook could do little to stop, Josh Hazlewood quickly knocked Brook out. Australia thought they had a chance to repeat what they had done on the first day, but Bairstow and Root worked together to stop further harm from occurring in the session.
The wicketkeeper-batter seems to be in a good mood right away and has thus far batted with a calculated intent, dispatching any loose deliveries that have been presented. On the other end, Root carried on as usual to surpass another Test fifty.
At the time of stumps, they had 389 runs scored, leading Australia by 377 runs. Unless they choose to declare overnight, their innings will continue until day four. Even so, veteran quicks Stuart Broad and James Anderson are putting up as much of a fight as ever as they are down to their penultimate wicket.
However, they are, for a change, in total control of their fate thanks to a sizable lead against a worn-out Australian team. Due to how quickly they played in both innings, they even got a jump on the day five rain forecast.
It should come as no surprise that a team motivated by entertainment utilized their final summer Test innings to provide a “best of” performance. The primary headline-stealers from the previous six weeks made the largest contributions, but the entire lineup made contributions.
With a final total of 480 runs for the series, Kent hitter Zak Crawley is the clubhouse leader on the run-scoring rankings, 56 runs ahead of Usman Khawaja. For the second time in ten days, Joe Root came up short of scoring a second series century with an entertaining 91.
And Jonny Bairstow, who has been more criticized for his wicket keeping than anything, delivered a reminder of his batting talent with a brisk 75 that ensured one of these sides went into the last innings of a match as standout favorites for the first time this series.
Australia’s attack appeared incidental to the action because of the way the game was going and the fervently supportive south London crowd. In keeping with the pace of this series, they only bowled 80 overs today, but outside that, England was able to get runs whenever they wanted them and also picked up wickets.
Todd Murphy’s three for 110 and Mitchell Starc‘s four for 94 testified of their effort amidst the mayhem. The final five wickets of day three went for just 47 runs thanks to the pair’s combined efforts.
The three wickets taken by Australia in the post-lunch session do indicate that they bowled more effectively, but they are still unable to slow down the scoring rate. England scored more quickly after lunch than they did during the morning session, if anything.
In order to fully secure the advantage, the host team will aim to increase their lead by the end of play to at least 350–400 scores.
Brief scores: England 283 (Harry Brook 85, Ben Duckett 41; Mitchell Starc 4-82)& 265/4 (Zak Crawley 71, Joe Root 61, Ben Duckett 42; Josh Hazlewood 1-53) lead Australia 295 (Steve Smith 73, Usman Khawaja 47; Chris Woakes 3/61, Stuart Broad 2/49) by 253 runs.