August 25, 2019. Third Ashes Test at Headingley. England needed 204 runs to square the series 1-1, having lost the first Test and drawn the second one.
They had whole 4th and 5th days to chase down the target. But Australia brought them to their knees until Ben Stokes rose to the occasion.
Ben Stokes Pulls Off a Heist!
In seamer-friendly bowling conditions, Australia and England batters had a testing time. England skipper Joe Root won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first.
By the close of the first day, England bundled out Australia on 179 runs in a rain-curtailed opening day. But on the next day, the Aussies came back strong, wrapping up England for a mere 67 right after the lunch break.
The top-class performance from Australia’s pace attack helped them take a 112-run lead, which they extended to 358 by scoring 246 runs in the second innings.
With a target of 359 runs and 8 sessions to go in the match, England lost 2 quick wickets right after lunch on the third day. Then captain Root joined forces with Joe Denly to put up a 126-run stand and took England to 156 for 3 by the end of the third day’s play.
By this time, England were clear favourites to win with a set Root and Ben Stokes standing overnight on the crease. But no one knew what the fourth day had in store for everyone — the players, experts, and of course, the fans.
The fourth day started with Root and Stokes taking a cautious approach. But Root fell soon to Nathan Lyon, handing out a catch to David Warner into the slip.
Stokes was yet to fire up but he got the company of Jonny Bairstow, who paced England’s chase a bit. Both batters made sure another wicket didn’t fall until lunch while cramming occasional boundaries and rotating the strike.
But 3 overs into the second session, Bairstow edged an outside the off delivery which rested in the hands of Marnus Labuschagne. That brought an end to an 86-run stand between Bairstow and Stokes, leaving England on 245 for 5.
Bairstow’s dismissal opened the floodgates, as England lost the next 4 wickets in 41 runs, leaving them on the brink of a loss on 286 for 9. No. 11 Jack Leach joined Stokes, with England needing 73 to win.
Everyone thought the game was over for England, but Stokes showed nerves of steel. The left-hander just needed Leach to hold on to the other end, while he charged on the Aussie bowlers.
Stokes started by hitting Lyon for 3 sixes, before amplifying the attack against Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. A 50-run partnership was up between Stokes and Leach in a mere 37 balls.
Meanwhile, Stokes brought up his hundred but he knew the job was not done yet. With 17 runs required to win, Australia let a chance slip by dropping Stokes’ catch.
Stokes reduced the deficit by smashing 2 boundaries and taking a single on the next 3 deliveries. Australia created another chance by appealing for LBW against Leach, but it was missing the stumps.
The next over was even more dramatic, with Australia missing 2 close chances. First, a run out blunder, and the next, an LBW appeal, which they had no DRS to review.
With 2 runs to win, Leach was on strike to face Cummins. The first 2 balls were dots, but Leach ran a single on the third to level the scores. This was also Leach’s first run since he stepped onto the pitch.
On the very next ball, Stokes shut the chase by hitting a four through the covers to level the series 1-1. His winning stroke sent the Headingley crowd into an absolute frenzy.
No one would have thought that England had the game after watching their batting slump in the first innings. But Root, Denly, Bairstow, Jofra Archer, Leach, and Stokes kept England in the fight.
Check out England’s stats here!
