Ashes 2023 | Twitter reacts as Travis Head's explosive effort under cloudy skies on Day 3 sets England 251 to chase
The third Ashes Test continued to ebb and flow in Leeds as the match fast approached its climax amidst inclement weather. Travis Head stole the headlines with a brilliant knock while wickets tumbled on the other end but a rapid start from the English openers handed the side a slight edge at Stumps.
England got off to a flying start on Saturday at Headingley as Chris Woakes got rid of both Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey within the first six overs of play to leave Australia reeling at 139/6. With the ball dancing about every which way, a quick collapse seemed to be on the cards for the visitors but Travis Head had other plans. Unbeaten overnight at 21, the southpaw took advantage of the hosts' short-ball tactics and employed an aggressive approach with the tail at the other end of the crease. He ended up finding the fence six times in the tricky conditions while clearing it an additional three times, including two back-to-back strikes against express speedster Mark Wood, to register his 16th Test half-century. Head eventually became Stuart Broad's third victim in the innings and departed for a score of 77, taking Australia's score to 224 in addition to their first-innings lead of 26 runs.
In response, England had much friendlier conditions to deal with as the sun was suddenly beating down hard in Leeds, further extending their stroke of good fortune with regard to the weather. Nevertheless, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc produced a few close calls with the new Dukes ball to trouble Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett but the duo stood their ground for the five overs bowled. They remained unbeaten on 9 and 18 respectively to have the hosts 27 for no loss at Stumps, leaving them 224 more to chase with two days of play remaining.
What a day!
The perfect day for England. Keeps the target to 251 and they knock 27 of those runs. If you’ve watched cricket in Headingley over the last few years, you’d know 251 should be easy to chase. #Ashes
— PP (@PrashantSport) July 8, 2023
For sure!
Looks like England will make it 2-1 #Ashes #Ashes2023 #Eng
— Sumukh Herlekar (@sumukh_herlekar) July 8, 2023
Scoreline at end of 5th test match
Looking very confident!
Stumps Day 3 England is in a strong position they need 224 with all 10 wickets in hand#WTC25 #Ashes
— Sarmad MALIK🇵🇰 (@sarmadaadeez) July 8, 2023
Well!
27-0 overnight.
— Richard Whitehead (@Richw1677) July 8, 2023
Another 224 to win in 2 days.#Ashes #EngAus
That's true!
There's nothing better than the Ashes cricket, absolutely nothing #Ashes
— Charlie (@AFCharlie__) July 8, 2023
Hahaha! That would be too early!
Surely @benstokes38 requests the extra half hour so we can get the required 224 runs knocked off @SkyCricket @WardyShorts #Ashes #BazBall
— Mark Wilson (@baldyknappa) July 8, 2023
Boland surprisingly ineffective in England so far #Ashes
— Rylan Dawson (@Dawso26) July 8, 2023
Ashes for you!
Brilliant from @englandcricket
— Hunter 🦅 (@HunterCPFC) July 8, 2023
Glimmer of hope #Ashes
Worth waiting!
Outstanding 2 and Half Hours Cricket Today👏Crowd had to Wait BUT A Superb 27 Overs and A Great Evening for England👏👏Need another 224 runs with All 10 Wickets Left🏴🏏No Hope with my Day 5 Ticket BUT the #Ashes are Alive #Ashes2023 #Ashes23 #ENGvAUS 🏴🏏🏆🤞
— .... (@YouBearsssssss) July 8, 2023
hahaha!
My inner child is sat here giggling at this height difference. Crawley is incredibly tall, would make a brilliant bowler #ENGvAUS #Ashes2023 pic.twitter.com/Kucpjh06YD
— Dr Laura Reeves (@LauraRe20156212) July 8, 2023
hmmm!
This is going to be England’s Headingley, just the way it was in 1981 (Botham) and then again in 2019 (Stokes). Brilliantly set up though #Ashes2023 #EngvsAus
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) July 8, 2023
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