Crawley, Root and Bairstow blaze away to give England 377-run lead – T20 IPL 2024

Stumps England 283 and 389 for 9 (Root 91, Bairstow 78, Crawley 73, Starc 4-94, Murphy 3-110) lead Australia 295 by 377 runs

Saturday at The Oval was never going to be quiet. After Australia had tried and failed to quieten the crowd here on day two of this fifth Ashes Test, England turned the volume back up to 11 on day three with a sensory overload of a second innings to assume control of this final round of an engaging series.

With 389 runs scored, they led Australia by 377 at stumps, with their innings still going into day four, unless they decide upon an overnight declaration. Granted, they are down to the final wicket, with veteran quicks Stuart Broad and James Anderson as valiant as ever. But a sizeable lead against a weary Australian team has them in complete control of their destiny for a change. Such has been their speed of play in both innings, they have even stolen a march on the rains forecast for day five.

Unsurprisingly, a team driven by entertainment used their final Test innings of the summer to produce a “best of” performance. There were contributions throughout the line-up, with the biggest from the main headline grabbers over the last six weeks.

Zak Crawley‘s 73 took him to a final tally of 480 runs for the series, with the Kent batter the clubhouse leader on the run-scoring charts, 56 ahead of Usman Khawaja. Joe Root fell short of a second century of the series, for the second time in ten days, with an engaging 91. And Jonny Bairstow, who has had more words dedicated to his wicketkeeping – most of them unflattering – provided a reminder of his batting prowess with a punchy 75 that ensured one of these sides went into the final innings of a match as standout favourites for the first time this series.

Such was the flow of play, and thanks to a hugely partisan south London crowd, Australia’s attack seemed secondary to proceedings. They bowled their overs – slowly, as per this series, with just 80 today – but beyond that, runs came as and when England wanted, and wickets, too. Mitchell Starc‘s 4 for 94 and Todd Murphy‘s 3 for 110 spoke of their endeavour among the carnage. The pair combined for day three’s last five wickets, which fell for just 47 runs.

More to follow…

Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

Leave a Reply Cancel reply