England bowled out for 286; Carse picks up Weatherald as Australia are 17/1 at Lunch on Day 3

With eight wickets down and Australia’s lead still over 200 runs, one wouldn’t be too wrong to entertain thoughts of England possibly having to follow-on had the hosts cleaned up the tail in the final session on Day 2. However, captain Ben Stokes and tail-ender Jofra Archer showed great spirit, ending the day unbeaten, with England at 213-8.

The pair walked out to bat still 158 runs shy of Australia’s total on Day 3, hoping to bat for as long as possible. Archer hit a lovely six early in the session, which made it seem like Bazball would take over to end the English innings. However, Stokes played slow as ever on the other end, crawling to his fifty and scoring at a consistent strike rate of around 40. Almost makes one wonder how things would turn out for the visitors if most of their batters valued their wickets in the same way.

On the other side of things, Australia had the chance to bowl with a second new ball for the first time this series as England got past the 80-over mark for the first time as well. Mitchell Starc was accompanied by skipper Pat Cummins as the pair got things underway with the second new cherry. The English pair toiled through the first few overs, navigating the new ball well.

Things changed four overs into using the new ball as the Australians finally broke the the biggest partnership of England’s innings. Starc bowled a lovely ball pitching outside off stump at a good length, with his scramble seamed delivery doing just enough off the surface and moving into Stokes’ hitting arc. The ball caught the inside edge and the visiting captain had to depart after a valiant 83 off an eye-watering 198 deliveries.

England number 11 Josh Tongue came out to bat for his first-ever Ashes innings and added 12 runs to the total along with Archer, before the latter was dismissed in Scott Boland’s first over. The seamer came into the attack and immediately showed signs of being locked in after an accurate first delivery. The second one tempted Archer into a drive, catching a healthy edge that was comfortably taken by Marnus Labuschagne at first slip.

With a lead of 85 runs, Travis Head and Jake Weatherald walked into bat after a short interval, with a tricky half an hour or so to get past before the Lunch break. Their partnership did not last long at all, as Weatherald looked tentative at the crease. The left-hander was given out after a strong LBW appeal from Carse as on-field umpire Ahsan Raza raised his finger immediately.

In a bit of a surprising move, Head seemed to deter his batting partner from reviewing as Weatherald turned around and walked off. Labuschagne joined Head in the middle and the pair now have a challenging session ahead of them, with English bowlers likely to steam in in hope of early wickets.

Can Archer, Tongue and Carse turn this match into a proper contest with some cheap wickets after Lunch, or will the Australians show steely determination and dig in to preserve their wickets. Stay tuned to find out!