The Ashes 2023: England makes a strong bounce back in the 3rd Test (Day-3) Match Report (England vs Australia)

On Day-3 of England vs Australia’s third test of the Ashes 2023, England made a strong comeback in the game as they restricted the visitors to a total of 224/10 on the scoreboard. From England’s side, Stuart Broad played an impressive part with 3/45 whereas Travis Head remained the only successful batter from the visitors’ side. With two days still remaining, the hosts are all set to achieve a target of 251 runs. At stumps, England has already reached 27/0 with Ben Duckett & on the crease.

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-3): How Australia couldn’t survive England’s bowling attack

The start of day 3 for the Aussies was not an ideal one as they lost the early wicket of Mitchell Marsh at a score of 131 when he played a confused shot on a ball by Woekes & was caught behind. This deepened the trouble for the Aussies as they Head & Carey would be the last batting pair which can substantially take them ahead on the scoreboard. But to their disappointment, at a total of 139, Carey got bowled out by Woekes on a tight length delivery which increased the chances of England to snatch the match away from the Cummins-led side.

Next came Starc, who somehow supported Head on the other end but couldn’t withstand the host’s bowling attack and gave away his wicket when he played a flick shot and was caught by Brook behind square on a superb delivery by Wood. By now, Australia’s chances of getting back into the game diminished to a great extent as Head was the only batter left along with tail-end batters at a score of 168/7.

Moving two runs further, the Aussies lost their eighth wicket in the form of the skipper Cummins who added just a single to the total. Further, the new batter, Murphy seemed to put his best efforts by adding 11 runs to the total but soon fell prey to Broad who got him leg before. Head remained the last one to depart after playing a sensible innings of 77 runs, making him the most successful batters from the Aussies’ side.

Talking about the bowling side, England showed a perfect balance in bowling at the right lengths alongwith using opponents’ weaknesses. The bowling line up of England as whole performed impressively with Broad & Woekes being the shining stars both of whom claimed 3 wickets each whereas Wood & Ali grabbed two wickets each.

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-3): England started off sensibly

After winding up the visitors at a total of 224 runs, England received a target of 251 runs for which they had two full days which gave a wonderful opportunity to the hosts to win the game. So, all they required was to play sensibility by building big partnerships.

Before the end of the day, only 5 overs were left to be played. So, both the openers, Duckett & Crawley made sure they don’t give away their wickets and added 27 runs on the board.

BRIEF SCORE: Day-3 (3rd Test), The Ashes 2023
Australia: 263/10 (Marsh 118, Head 39, Wood 5/34, Woakes 3/73)
England: 237/10 (Stokes 80, Crawley 33, Cummins 6/91, Starc 2/59)
Australia: 224/10 (Travis Head 77, Khawaja 43, Broad 3/45 Ali 2/34, Woakes 3/68)
England: 27/0 (Duckett 18*, Boland 0/2)

England need 224 runs to win

The Ashes 2023, 3rd Test (Day-3): Match Details

• Venue: Headingley Stadium, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
• Dates: 6 Jul – 10 Jul
• Toss: Won by England, Chose to Bowl first
• Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) & Nitin Menon (IND)
• TV umpire: Joel Wilson (WI)
• Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SL)
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