For the third day in a row, England dominated proceedings in the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford. At stumps, Australia were precariously placed at 113 for 4 in the second dig, still trailing by a substantial 162 runs. For England, Jonny Bairstow (99 not out) and Mark Wood (three wickets) turned out to be the key performers with the bat and ball.
England started the day just how they had finished the previous one – taking the aggressive route. Ben Stokes (51) and Harry Brook (61) stitched an alliance of 86 in just over 22 overs for the fifth wicket. Stokes looked to take on the Australian pace trio by charging down the deck and playing across the line. Eventually, Pat Cummins broke the stand by cleaning up Stokes from round the wicket. Josh Hazlewood, who until then had looked quite lacklustre, sliced through England middle and lower order and finished with a five-for for the innings.
However, with the score reading 526 for 9, Bairstow decided to go into T20 mode, as he and the last man, James Anderson, added 66 runs to frustrate Australia further. The highlight of Bairstow’s innings were the short-arm jabs over midwicket. In order to get back on strike, Bairstow also stole quite a few byes, with Anderson running to the danger end. Unfortunately for Bairstow, he couldn’t complete his Test ton as Anderson was trapped in front by Green in the 108th over.
With a mountain to climb in the second innings, David Warner and Usman Khawaja started on a cautious note against the England seamers. Only when Moeen Ali was introduced into the attack did Warner play with any freedom. In the 11th over, Khawaja edged one to Bairstow off Wood. The extra pace perhaps forced Khawaja into the error. He took the review but had to trudge back to the pavilion. After the break, Warner inside-edged one on to the stumps off Chris Woakes.
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne then joined forces and shared a gutsy partnership of 43. The duo had to negotiate a tricky spell of reverse swing from Wood and Anderson. Wood tested the inside edge while Anderson was back to his first-innings mode of beating the outside edge. Wood, however, had the last laugh as he employed the short ball, with Smith awkwardly fending one behind. Smith’s exaggerated shuffle didn’t exactly help his cause on that occasion.
Just before the end of day’s play, Travis Head fended yet another short ball from Wood straight to the gully fielder. Head stays slightly leg-side of the ball and his back foot doesn’t load up much. So, England’s strategy of using Wood from round the wicket worked to perfection, with Head not given the room to free his arms.
Australia will still be hopeful of drawing the Test and retaining the Ashes at Old Trafford as plenty of rain is predicted on day four. The forecast for the scheduled final day isn’t great either.