Australia will need to pull off a record-breaking run chase or pray for another timely downpour to prevent England from equalling the Ashes series at 2-2 after copping another Bazball blitz on Saturday.
England raced towards 9-389 at stumps on day three of the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval, meaning Australia will be chasing a minimum target of 378 for an unlikely victory.
Joe Root (91) and Jonny Bairstow (78) combined for a century partnership for the fifth wicket, while Mitchell Starc claimed four wickets despite conceding nearly five runs per over in the second innings.
Meanwhile, veteran bowler Stuart Broad has announced his retirement from Test cricket, with the Ashes finale set to be his last match in English whites.
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Stuart Broad reveals shock retirement | 01:21
‘ABOUT TO EXPLODE’: PONTING FUMES AT WASTEFUL AUSSIES
The Ashes finale was in the balance when day three got underway on Saturday morning, but England’s openers only needed 45 minutes to seize control of the match.
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett feasted on Australia’s wayward bowling before the lunch break, bringing up a fifty-run partnership in the ninth over. Australia’s seamers didn’t bowl to their fields, getting their tactics wrong and failing to exploit their opponent’s weaknesses.
Duckett, who famously never leaves deliveries outside off stump, started the day with a boundary rider at point and no deep square leg. However, the left-hander’s first five boundaries came through the leg side, with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood repeatedly bowling at his pads.
“Why are you bowling there?” legendary commentator Jim Maxwell said on BBC Test Match Special.
“Is it fatigue? Is it Bazball putting Australia off their line? I don’t get it.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s seamers were guilty of overpitching to Crawley, who has been vulnerable to deliveries short of a good length throughout the series.
Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting was not impressed with what he witnessed from the Sky Sports commentary box.
“I think Ricky Ponting is just about to explode,” former England captain Nasser Hussain laughed.
“Everyone in world cricket knows where to bowl to Zak Crawley … you bowl fifth
stump, back of a length. They bowled on his pads, they bowled both sides of the wicket. They got it wrong and now they’re playing catch-up cricket.
“You can have as many theories as you want, but you’ve got to bowl better.”
To nobody’s surprise, Australian captain Pat Cummins removed Crawley early in the afternoon session by bowling a fifth stump line, with the right-hander edging towards Steve Smith at second slip.
Speaking on Sky Sports, former Test opener Mark Taylor questioned why Australia’s quick didn’t bowl more bouncers to Crawley.
“They haven’t bowled enough short ones at the right time to Zak Crawley,” Taylor said.
“I would have loved to see Australia … set him on the back foot a little more.
“I’m surprised Australia haven’t tried to rock him back early, even with the brand new ball, a couple of short balls.
“It is a bit like an Australian pitch. There is bounce in it. I’m surprised Australia haven’t used that bounce.”
BAIRSTOW REDEEMS HIMSELF WITH 30-YEAR FIRST
Jonny Bairstow has copped his fair share of criticism throughout the Ashes campaign, and rightfully so.
The England wicketkeeper, who confessed he was still recovering from his horrific leg injury, botches several chances early in the series, also struggling to find momentum with the bat. After the Headingley Test, pundits were questioning whether the Yorkshireman should hand the gloves over to Ben Foakes.
However, since the start of last week’s Old Trafford Test, Bairstow has been almost flawless with both bat and gloves.
The 33-year-old backed up his unbeaten 99 in Manchester with a classy 78 on day three at The Oval, putting England in a dominant position in the Ashes finale.
England had just lost two wickets in quick succession when Bairstow walked to the crease on Saturday afternoon, but he combined with Joe Root for a 110-run partnership for the fifth wicket to frustrate the Australians.
He drove with authority and whipped out a flurry of white-ball strokes, dabbing through gully and flicking through fine leg whenever Australia’s seamers strayed on the pads, which happened often. The right-hander also treated spinner Todd Murphy with disdain, slapping the spectacle tweaker back over his head for a belligerent boundary.
Bairstow was determined to drive Australia’s fatigued bowlers into the dirt, but he fell victim to Mitchell Starc in the evening session after wafting away from his body and edging behind, sparking a late collapse of 4-19.
“(Bairstow) came out at a tricky time just after (Ben) Stokes and (Harry) Brook were out and took the attack straight back to Australia,” former England captain Alastair Cook said on BBC Test Match Special.
“He then becalmed himself as he and Joe Root looked to press home the advantage. He played beautifully.
Bairstow finished the series with 322 runs at 40.25, including three fifties — no England wicketkeeper has scored more runs in an Ashes series since 1993.
Since the start of the Bazball era, Bairstow has pummelled 1003 Test runs at 59.00, with a mind-boggling strike rate of 89.31.
His glovework has also been considerably better since the start of the Old Trafford Test, with his lone mistake being the controversial missed run-out of Steve Smith on Friday afternoon.
Most runs by England wicketkeeper in an Ashes series
378 — Alec Stewart, 1993
364 — Alan Knott, 1974/75
322 — Jonny Bairstow, 2023
314 — Jack Russell, 1989
306 — Jonny Bairstow, 2017/18
11-YEAR GAME OF MUSICAL CHAIRS FINALLY OVER
Andrew Strauss’ retirement in 2012 sparked a merry-go-round of England openers in the Test arena.
England trialled 22 different openers during a decade-long game of musical chairs, including forgotten Ashes players Mark Stoneman, Michael Carberry and Jason Roy.
The dilemma became even more glaring when the legendary Alastair Cook retired in 2018, leaving two vacancies at the top of the order.
However, after nearly 11 years of searching, England has finally found a long-term opening partnership they can throw their support behind.
Rejuvenated from the Bazball revolution, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett have developed into a formidable opening partnership for England. Since the start of last year’s Test tour of Pakistan, Crawley and Duckett have averaged 42.05 and 53.21 respectively, both scoring at a strike rate of 89.
Crawley finished the current series against Australia with 480 runs, the highest individual tally for an England opener in a five-Test Ashes campaign at home since 1968.
“Zak Crawley is such an elegant batsman,” former Australian bowler Glenn McGrath said on BBC Test Match Special.
“He is tall and likes to play his shots, but doesn’t try to overhit it. He times the ball so sweetly.
“He looks like he will score off every ball with that positive, aggressive intent.
“And now he has confidence. He looks like he is enjoying it out there.”
Crawley, named Player of the Match of last week’s drawn contest at Old Trafford, could finish the series as the leading run-scorer if Australian opener Usman Khawaja registers less than 56 in the second innings.
“Zak Crawley has played absolutely beautifully. He has had a terrific series,” former England captain Michael Atherton said on Sky Sports.
“He has made big strides as an opener in this series — and he has made his runs attractively, scoring at a rapid click.”
On Saturday morning, Crawley and Duckett combined for the second fifty-run partnership of the match, becoming the first English opening pair to achieve the feat in a home Test since 2009.
Speaking to Sky Sports, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting confessed he was “very impressed” with Duckett’s batting throughout the Ashes campaign.
“I looked at all of the stats coming in, at how many balls he plays at, his strike rate and I wondered if that would stand up against this attack,” Ponting said.
“Would Australia be able to find a chink in the armour? And the answer is probably not.
“It’s very aggressive, sensible batting and it has wreaked havoc on the Australian opening bowlers.”
MURPHY ACHIEVES RARE FEAT LYON NEVER COULD
Todd Murphy has been thrown in the deep end this month.
The spectacled off-spinner wasn’t expecting to play any cricket in England this winter, but an injury to Nathan Lyon opened the door for him to make his Ashes debut at Headingley.
It would be unfair to compare Murphy’s bowling to that of Lyon, but when the Victorian was tasked with stepping up as Australia’s premier tweaker on day three of the Ashes finale, he did a commendable job.
Struggling Aussies finally break through | 00:37
Murphy claimed three wickets, had two others overturned on review, while Umpire’s Call cruelly denied him a fourth. The 22-year-old dismissed rival captain Ben Stokes and clean-bowled Joe Root with an absolute gem that spun through the gate.
Lyon and Indian veteran Ravichandran Ashwin have collectively bowled 237.3 overs at Root in Tests without hitting his stumps, something Murphy has achieved after just 28 deliveries.
The conditions at The Oval were a polar opposite to what Murphy experienced in the subcontinent earlier this year — there was minimal turn on offer, meaning the spinner had to rely on varying his pace and drifting the Dukes ball whenever possible.
Murphy improved drastically as the day progressed — he was guilty of straying onto the pads against right-handed batters in the morning session, with opener Zak Crawley feasting on the wayward bowling.
However, the Moama local adjusted his line in the evening session, tempting Jonny Bairstow and Root into playing the cover drive, ultimately leading to his second dismissal.
Despite leaking five runs per over across the day, Murphy broke England’s most dangerous partnership of the innings — he could have finished with a five-wicket haul had luck been on his side.
He’s still a work in progress, with half-trackers and full tosses occasionally creeping into his repertoire on Saturday afternoon — but the spin prodigy proved he could more than hold his own in the Ashes furnace.