Ashes 2023: England Bounces Back by Winning the 3rd Test

After losing the first two tests of Ashes 2023, England has made a laudable comeback in the series as they clinched their first win of this series. Tremendous pressure had mounted on the hosts after they lost those games and were looking at an early series defeat, but they have resiliently powered through this third test by clinching a thrilling win. Their bowlers laid the foundations of this win by getting the Australian batsmen all out for an unimpressive 224 runs, with only Travis Head showing a commendable effort by scoring 77 runs, and decent efforts from Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne, who scored 43 and 33, respectively.

However, the Aussie pacers have dominated the English batsmen throughout Ashes 2023, and it was thus a big task of scoring a 250+ score, thanks to the additional lead runs Australia had to their advantage. Opener Zak Crawley gave England a good start with Ben Duckett’s support by scoring 44 runs before nicking a Mitchell Marsh delivery that carried straight to Aussie keeper Alex Carey. England started fumbling thereon as night watchman Moeen Ali and Joe Root were dismissed in quick successions. However, Harry Brook stood his ground and hit an impressive 75 runs even as skipper Ben Stokes and Johnny Bairstow fell to Mitchell Starc, whose impeccable bowling also eventually managed to get Brook out.

After seven wickets down, England’s tail was exposed in front of Australia’s fiery pace attack. However, they were only a few runs away from a victory, but the match could have tilted on any side at that stage. Chris Woakes, however, held his nerves and got his team past the finish line with Mark Wood by scoring an unbeaten 32 runs, thereby registering their first win in Ashes 2023. But England is still a win behind Australia and has a long way to go if they want a chance at winning this crucial series.

Image source: AP