The lopsided-looking Gabba Test of the Ashes 2021-22 took a turn in the last two sessions of day three as England fought back in the second innings. England captain Joe Root’s 86* and Dawid Malan’s 80* brought the visitors back into the match as they finished the day on 220/2, bringing the deficit down to 58 runs.
Australia resumed their innings on 343/7, with Travis Head and Mitchell Starc punishing the England bowlers further. The duo added 85 runs for the eighth wicket before Starc holed out at deep square leg on 35. Nathan Lyon added 15 runs to the total before he was caught at square leg, trying to pull a quick short delivery by Mark Wood.
Head brought up his 150 in style by slog sweeping Leach for a boundary. In the next over, his incredible knock of 152 off just 148 came to an end courtesy of a scorching yorker by Wood. For England, Ollie Robinson was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 58 while Wood claimed 3 for 85.
Trailing by 278 runs, England had a mountain of a task ahead of them to even avoid an innings defeat. It looked like a repeat of the first innings when the umpire raised a finger for Rory Burns. However, Burns reviewed it and turned out the ball was going over the top of the stumps. Burns and Haseeb Hameed saw off eight overs and went into the Lunch break without losing any wickets.
Pat Cummins produced the magic delivery in the very first over after Lunch. A short of a length delivery bounced significantly more than the usual, and Burns (13) could not get his hands down in time as he gloved it to the keeper. Hameed once again looked very secured at the crease in his knock but was strangled down the leg off a nothing short of a length delivery by Starc on 27. England were 61/2 at this stage, with 217 runs still behind.
Root, who was dismissed for a duck in the first outing, looked assured in the second gig. After being watchful early on, he drove Cummins down the ground, pulled and swept Nathan Lyon to get going. Malan rode his luck and added 47 runs for the third wicket as they headed into Tea at 107/2.
The duo continued to build the partnership after Tea at a healthy scoring rate. In the process, Root crossed his fifty off 80 balls. Malan, who punished anything loose on offer, also brought up his fifty. The pair brought up a 100-run stand to give some hope.
Root and Malan produced an exhibition of strokeplay in their partnership as they cut down the deficit. The pair added an unbroken partnership of 159 runs to finish the day in a very good position. Root played a chanceless knock, looking completely in command while Malan made the most of his luck. Starc proved to be expensive for Australia yet again as he conceded 60 runs in 14 overs while they also have injury concerns around Josh Hazlewood.
While Australia still remains in the driving seat, England have a great chance tomorrow to make something out of this game, with the likes of Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler yet to come.
Brief scores
England 1st Innings – 147 in 50.1 overs (Buttler 39; Cummins 5/38)
Australia 1st Innings – 425 in 104.3 overs (Head 152, Warner 94; Robinson 3/58, Wood 3/85)
England 2nd Innings – 220/2 in 70 overs (Root 86*, Malan 80*; Cummins 1/43, Starc 1/60) Trail by 58 runs.
