Newzdaddy Cricket Updates

This place is familiar to us. the early hours of Day 4 at Headingley, when the Ashes were at stake. England is in the middle of a run-chase. Australia has the chance to finish off the hosts with a series advantage.

In fact, it seemed as though we had just been at Lord’s last week. And this Test has had a déjà vu vibe to it ever since we landed in Leeds. the constant struggle between both sides to win the test. several collapses. striking bowling strikes. There was considerable air movement. tough questioning of batting methods. And a good deal of rain.

However, there are nuances that differ. England is in the lead, unlike four years ago and even the second Test of this series. From here, it’s their game. You’d think that a goal of 251, which they have already taken 27 off of, is well within reach for a club that believes it can chase anything down in the fourth innings. No miracle is necessary for this. No miracle should be necessary for this. To make a match of it, one of their hitters wouldn’t even need to bat heroically. England will think—and perhaps even hope—that they won’t even require their heroic captain to don that one-of-a-kind outfit, which mixes Houdini and Superman, to rescue the day.

If England manages to reach their goal without losing more than 2 or 3 wickets, it appears extremely likely that the game won’t last very long.

You don’t have to be a neutral to want this series to go for at least another 10 days, despite how much Australia would like to end the Ashes in Leeds itself and take advantage of the week off between the third and fourth Tests with the urn in tow. Let’s start by analysing the number of opportunities England had to take the lead in this series and the number of opportunities they missed to do so.

 

If they suffer a crushing defeat in Leeds, it’s also possible that we’ll never really know whether the Bazball concept was worthwhile in this particular series.

Because, let’s face it, losing 3-0 with two Tests remaining would undoubtedly mark the beginning of Bazball’s post-mortem as well as the brave new world of English Test cricket. even though it could seem a little bit unjust. After all, there have been times when both the bat and the ball appeared to be working for Stokes and his side.

While they haven’t allowed the Australians to completely control the game, as the score might indicate, they have managed to restrain them. Even while the hosts’ aim is to entertain without always focusing on the outcome, a much-needed victory for them would likely make the conversation about Bazball more complex than it has been so far.

However, the fact that this appears to be England’s run-chase from here simply heightens your curiosity about the twists and turns we will see over the next two hours at Headingley. This series has focused on that. You are never allowed to predict where the game will actually go until the very end.

Not to mention, it was the case even on Day 3. Not even in terms of what actually occurred, but rather in the fact that we even had some cricket to begin with. Because by 4 PM, the likelihood of any play was dim, if not impossible. Then play occurred in opposition to the trend. In fact, there has been enough action to sped up the game even more in this Test match that has been played in rapid-fire fashion. There were enough times during the little session we eventually had—during which the players left the pitch after only one over—when the game turned on its head to keep you interested and wondering which direction it was heading.

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Chris Woakes’ two-for-one performance provided the catalyst for England’s start. To give Australia some hope, there was the brief collaboration between Travis Head and Mitchell Starc. Mark Wood then had an encore performance, removing Pat Cummins and Starc within a short period of time. The match appeared to be firmly in England’s hands as long as Australia’s lead remained under 200 runs and Wood had four deliveries to take the final two wickets. Before Todd Murphy scored 10 runs off those four deliveries, Head added to his impressive resume of counterattacking innings by dismissing Wood and the rest of the England bowlers, possibly one of his greatest.

Prior to the South Australian reeling off a few more sixes to somehow increase Australia’s advantage to 250, Head and Murphy contributed 41.

For as simple a run-chase as many would anticipate this to be for England today (July 9), you can bet there will be one, two, three, or even four swerves at various points in the game. Even if it feels like we’ve been here before, the rain is reportedly staying away on what will be a crucial day for the Ashes and the near future of Bazball.

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