England skipper Alastair Cook must have told his players before the first Test of the Ashes got underway in Cardiff — put some spring in your step and you will stand in good stead. The players, it seems, are obeying their captain and playing their individual role quite brilliantly. Otherwise, it’s hard to imagine England giving a target of 412 runs in front of Australia, the No. 1 Test team in the world, at the end of Day Three.
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It’s all happening at the Sophia Gardens. Believe it or not, Joe Root once again sent the Aussies attack on the leather hunt for the second time in the Test match. After his remarkable 134 in the first innings, the England vice-captain came back with a fine 60 off 89 balls after the English bowlers dismissed Australia for 308. England were given a lead of 122 runs in the first innings by the visitors and, the hosts added another 289 runs to take the overall lead beyond 400.
Root was not alone to build the England innings brick by brick. He got support from Ian Bell — who ended his poor run of form with a fighting 60 — and Ben Stokes. Opener Adam Lyth did make a belligerent 37 to stabilize the innings right at the top of the order.
And towards the end, Mark Wood played some lusty shots and remained unbeaten to take the England score to a respectable position. In all, it was a very impressive batting display by a team, who hadn’t come to the Ashes with a lot of expectations. This team is indeed desperate to compensate its humiliating 5-0 loss in 2013-14.
As it turned out, 15 wickets fell on the third day. Firstly, England took 14.5 overs to polish off the last five Australian wickets. Michael Clarke and his men could only add 44 runs to their grand first innings total. In the second innings, the Australian bowlers took 70.1 overs to skittle out the hosts.
The likes of Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and off-spinner Nathan Lyon (4/75) did show they have the heart to fight back in the last hour by taking five wickets, but they couldn’t stop England from setting an imposing target on a pitch offering some signs of life after a docile first two days.
Way back in 1948, Australia had once chased down a 400-plus total in Ashes history. Can they do it again? Without faith, nothing is possible. Without it, nothing is impossible. A prediction of rain may come to their aid on the final Day. But before that, they will have to survive Day Four!
