Daniel Brettig reports from the MCG at tea as a 53-run between Alastair Cook and Chris Woakes take England into their first, first-innings lead of the (0:54)
Tea England 6 for 360 (Cook 173*, Woakes 26*) lead Australia 327 by 33 runs
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England moved into the lead on the third day at the MCG, where Alastair Cook batted on and on past 150 and by tea was eyeing up what could become the fifth double-century of his Test career. Australia claimed two wickets during the middle session, both collected by Nathan Lyon, but while Cook remained at the crease England retained the upper hand, and by tea they had moved to 6 for 360, with Cook on 173, Chris Woakes on 26, and their lead at 33.
For the second time in the innings, Steven Smith gave Cook a life, this time when he put down a difficult chance at square leg off the bowling of Pat Cummins when Cook had 153. But for the most part, Australia had no answer to Cook, and Smith resorted to an eccentric-looking field containing three catching covers that resembled a displaced slip cordon in a futile attempt to force an error.
Cook brought up his 150 from his 260th delivery, his 11th Test innings of 150 or more, which moved him ahead of Kevin Pietersen, Wally Hammond and Len Hutton and into outright first on the England list. Along the way, he also passed Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s career tally and moved into seventh position on the all-time Test run list, behind Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara and Brian Lara.
By tea, his partnership with Woakes had reached 53, frustrating the Australians, who had also missed an opportunity when Woakes edged Josh Hazlewood between the wicketkeeper and first slip. England added 96 in the session for the loss only of Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali, who for the sixth time from seven innings in this series fell to the spin of Lyon.
Moeen’s aggressive intentions were clear as he moved to 20 from 14 deliveries, but in trying to clear the infield he was athletically caught at short cover by Shaun Marsh, jumping high into the air. Lyon had also accounted for Bairstow, who was caught behind for 22 trying to punch one through the off side. Lyon finished the session with 63 wickets for the calendar year, and he is virtually guaranteed to be Test cricket’s leading wicket taker in 2017.
The morning had started with Cook at the crease alongside Joe Root, who had 49. Root had no trouble registering his third fifty of the series, but on 61 he threw his innings away with a top-edged pull off Cummins that pinpointed Lyon at deep square leg. It continued Root’s frustrating habit of getting out after reaching a half-century; his career conversion rate of fifties to hundreds is 27%, roughly half that of his counterpart Smith.
Still, the Root-Cook partnership had been worth 138 and had delivered England to a position from which they could push for a first-innings lead. Dawid Malan then fell in strange circumstances when, on 14, he was adjudged lbw to Hazlewood and decided against using a review, although replays confirmed a thick inside edge. It made Malan the second England batsman this innings to be lbw off his inside edge, after James Vince also failed to review on the second day.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo