Twitter Reactions: Joe Root, Dawid Malan lead England's fightback in Ashes opener

Root and Malan were unbeaten at 86 and 80 respectively at stumps on Day 3.

By Gaurav Tripathi

View : 3.1K

2 Min Read

Joe Root and Dawid Malan
info
Joe Root and Dawid Malan. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

What a terrific comeback from England after enduring a hard time in the first two days of the Ashes opener? Joe Root and Dawid Malan stood out on Day 3 of the Brisbane Test and brought the Three Lions back in the hunt. The duo slammed unbeaten half-centuries as England were 220/2 at stumps on the third day, trailing just 58 runs behind Australia’s first-innings total.

Speaking of how the third day panned out, Australia resumed at their overnight score of 343/6. Travis Head continued to attack bowlers and crossed the 150-run mark, having slammed a century on the previous day. Mark Wood eventually dismissed him for 152. Mitchell Starc also played a handy 35-run knock to extend Australia’s lead.

The hosts eventually got bundled out for 425 runs, earning a mammoth 278-run lead in the first innings. England, who got skittled out for 147, had a stern task at hands in their second innings, but they didn’t get off to a good start. While Rory Burns got out for 13, his opening partner Haseeb Hameed perished for 27. With England being 61/2, their defeated looked inevitable. However, skipper Root and Malan had other plans.

Joe Root, Dawid Malan keep England’s hopes alive

The duo showcased remarkable resilience and tackled the formidable Aussie pace attack with brilliance. Both dashers were watchful against the challenging deliveries but they didn’t mind sending the lose deliveries over the ropes. In the process, Root also became the first batter to slam 1500 Test runs in 2021. Notably, no other batter has even crossed the 1000-run mark in the longest format this year.

Root and Malan were unbeaten at 86 and 80 respectively at stumps and both batters would like to reach the three-figure mark. Although a win for England might seem a bit far-fetched at this point, one can’t rule out the possibility of Australia suffering a defeat. After all, the hosts have to bat last in this contest.

England’s first target on Day 4 would be getting into the lead without losing any further wickets. If they manage to do so, the Aussies might find themselves in the spot of bother. Hence, some exciting action is on the cards.

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store
AustraliaEngland