Australia acknowledge they have to discover a solution to shut down Ben Stokes with a view to wrap up their first Ashes sequence victory in England in 22 years.
Stokes once more confirmed at Headingley why he’s essentially the most harmful man in English cricket on Friday, along with his first-innings 80 preserving the hosts within the third Test.
Battling hip and knee accidents, Stokes bludgeoned 53 runs off 41 balls after lunch on day two to cut back England’s first-innings deficit to 26 when the captain was final man out.
Buoyed by Stokes’ efforts, England fought additional again into the match with the ball to have Australia 4-116 at stumps and trailing by 142 runs.
It was on this corresponding match 4 years in the past that Stokes made his match-winning 135.
But his ongoing menace is arguably extra regarding for Australia on this sequence.
After a uncommon failure within the first Test at Edgbaston, it took an excellent Mitchell Starc outswinger to dismiss Stokes within the first innings at Lord’s for 17.
Stokes then responded by nearly hitting England house with 155 within the second innings, earlier than Friday’s highly effective knock at Leeds.
Australia have toyed with sending all males out on the boundary for Stokes, whereas additionally trying to make him hit to deeper pockets within the floor.
But the shorter boundaries at Headingley make that tough, significantly when the left-hander is batting with the tail and in all-out aggression mode.
Stokes’ innings on Friday additionally got here as England’s Bazball batting unravelled round him, with Pat Cummins taking 6-91 for Australia.
“Ben Stokes is an incredible leader and we have an incredible one in Pat Cummins too,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald mentioned.
“We have to work out a way to navigate through Ben Stokes in the second innings and Pat today was outstanding.
“That one-on-one showdown is a should watch.”
Friday’s knock came with Stokes in obvious pain, twice needing medical assistance on the field and at least once receiving medication.
But England know the impact of what even a half-fit skipper has on their side and the opposition, as Australia aim to set a fourth-innings target of beyond 300 runs.
“He is the one participant on this planet that everyone will probably be considering (we will chase something) in that state of affairs,” teammate Moeen Ali mentioned.
“Especially in opposition to Australia as a result of he has finished it a few occasions now.
“White ball, red ball, whatever it is, as long as he’s there you’ve got a great chance of winning
“It’s tough, there’s a lot he is coping with. When I used to be batting he was just a little bit sore. There’s much more than he is displaying.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
