Twitter Reactions: England eke out pride salvaging draw in SCG Test after nerve-wracking finish

Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes scored half-centuries, making sure that the Brits didn't slump to their fourth loss in the series.

By Sabyasachi Chowdhury

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James Anderson and Stuart Broad
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James Anderson and Stuart Broad. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

England, captained by Joe Root, found themselves staring down the barrel in the Ashes after losses in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne. The Boxing Day Test that ended in a tad over two days must have dented their confidence big time. However, the Three Lions managed to churn out a draw in the New Year’s Test at the SCG. The Brits managed to somehow hold on and evade another defeat.

Crawley, Stokes march on

Coming into the fifth day, the prospects of England scoring 358 runs looked bleak, although they had all their 10 wickets in hand. Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed put on 46 runs for the opening wicket after which Scott Boland got rid of the latter. Dawid Malan couldn’t get into double digits as Nathan Lyon castled him. Crawley looked at his fluent best as he notched a half-century off 69 balls.

Cameron Green delivered the body blow, getting rid of Crawley, who made 77 with 13 fours. Thereafter, Root and Ben Stokes put their heads down and stitched together a 60-run stand for the fourth wicket. Root fought hard in his 85-ball 24 before finally finding an outside-edge off Boland. Stokes and Bairstow tried to resurrect the innings with a crucial 37-run stand for the fifth wicket.

England survive the heat

Stokes was going great guns, having scored 60 with 10 fours and a six. But Lyon pinned him and the dismissal put more pressure on the England batting. Thereafter, Pat Cummins came to the party and removed Jos Buttler and Mark Wood in double quick time. The onus was then on Jonny Bairstow, the Brits’ centurion in the first innings, to stave off the in-form Australian bowling lineup.

Boland got rid of the big fish after the Englishman scored 41 with three fours. With two wickets in hand, England had to play out 11 overs to save the Test. Jack Leach, however, didn’t give up the ghost as he scored 26 off 34. But Steve Smith dismissed him with two over left in the game. Nevertheless, Stuart Broad and James Anderson made sure that Australia couldn’t get their last wicket.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to the SCG Test match

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