A superb 80 from Ben Stokes during the first half of day two has kept England in the third Ashes Test, with Australia now holding a 142-run advantage.
England battled back from 142-7 at lunch to reach 237 all out, Stokes starring in valuable ninth and 10th-wicket partnerships, and Australia had to make do with 116-4 at the close of play at Headingley.
All things considered, Pat Cummins will be delighted to hold such a lead, yet it should have been more given their dominance during the morning session.
Pat Cummins dismissed Joe Root (17) with the second ball of the day, and Jonny Bairstow (12), Moeen Ali (21) and Chris Woakes followed before lunch, all getting out to poor shots.
However, the England counter-attack came through Mark Wood, who astonishingly hit 24 from eight balls straight after lunch, a knock which included three sixes, and it breathed new life into England and an injury-hit Stokes.
With the England skipper barely able to run, he hit six fours and five sixes during an innings of 80 from 108 balls, with Stuart Broad (7) and Ollie Robinson (5*) playing their part in hanging around in partnerships of 32 and 38 respectively.
Cummins posted figures of 6-91 off 18 overs, helping keep Australia ahead, but they quickly found themselves under pressure with the bat as Stuart Broad took the wicket of David Warner (1).
"See ya, Smudge!" 👋
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 7, 2023
"What was that, mate?!? HEY!" ðŸ˜
Jonny Bairstow getting in Steve Smith's head 👀 pic.twitter.com/PyTKFuaC4s
Marnus Labuschagne joined Usman Khawaja to take the sting out of the England attack, scoring 57 runs from 23 overs, but Moeen struck twice in quick succession to dismiss Labuschagne (33) and Steven Smith (2).
Khawaja was next to go for 43 after nicking a Woakes delivery through to Bairstow, and it left Travis Head (18*) and Mitchell Marsh (17*) to come through 12.1 overs to keep Australia in the ascendancy.
