The Ashes | 4th Test, Day 3: Big challenge remains but Jonny Bairstow's heroics keep England in game
After a session of incisive fast bowling from Australia left them on the brink of another humiliation in the ongoing Ashes series, England made a fighting comeback into the fourth Test match on the back of a swashbuckling century by Jonny Bairstow and gutsy knocks from Mark Wood and Ben Stokes.
A lot of work is still left to be done, but the trio ensured England were not handed a real thrashing and that one session was not enough for them to be obliterated entirely out of the game.
The day began on an entirely predictable note with Mitchell Starc getting through the defence of Haseeb Hameed. The only difference was that the Australian pacer attack had to wait for some time to get their first wicket but as they broke through for the first time, the wonder boy from Melbourne, Scott Boland, ripped the heart out of England batting by the big wickets of Joe Root and Zak Crawley.
England were staring at another “embarrassing” batting performance after Dawid Malan was outsmarted by Cameron Green, but an injured Ben Stokes and a resilient Jonny Bairstow had made up their mind to not go down without fighting.
Stokes had hurt his side and could not bat freely with a side strain and hence he tried to up the ante whenever Australian pacers offered him deliveries at fuller or shorter lengths. He was severe against the off-spin of Nathan Lyon as well and it appeared he wanted to maximise his presence at the crease. However, a misjudgement in length cut short his ambitions of making match-turning contributions.
Jos Buttler could not help himself and carried on with his batting woes that could spell the end of his association with the England Test side for a significant point of time either after this Test or the series. Meanwhile, Bairstow was smashed on his thumb by a rising delivery from Pat Cummins and it changed the dynamics and intent of the right-hander and he copied Stokes’ model of batting from that point.
He switched on his One Day mode and dismissed Australia’s pacers from his presence with disdainful pull shots off the front foot. Both he and Mark Wood matched fire with fire against Australia’s barrage of short balls and carried England beyond the point of follow on.
England are still 158 runs behind and they might still go on to lose the Test but the fighting spirit and bullishness with which Bairstow and Stokes batted exemplified what could have been England’s fate in the series if they wouldn’t have committed the cardinal sin of not playing at the field and staying in the moment while deciding their playing XI.
 "Mayank Kumar")
