3 minute read
A snapshot of day three of the first Ashes Test between Australia and England at the Gabba.
AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, FIRST TEST, DAY THREE:
Score: England 147 and 2-220; Australia 425 (England trail by 58 runs)
Summary: Racing past 400 themselves, Australia sensed an early kill when Rory Burns went cheaply again. But Dawid Malan (80no) and Joe Root (86no) batted through the final two sessions to provide hope for the tourists after two nightmarish days.
Man of the moment: Joe Root is the key for England, the captain becoming his country's highest-grossing run-scorer in a calendar year as he crept within reach of a seventh hundred in 2021.
Key moment: Australia reviewed a Josh Hazlewood caught-behind shout when Malan was on 16. The Kookaburra was close to the bottom of Malan's bat, but - with Snickometer technology unavailable - there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the not out verdict.
Stat of the day: Apparently eager to avoid a dreaded king pair, Rory Burns chose not to face the first ball of the innings for just the fourth time in his 264 first class innings.
Quote of the day: "I still can't believe we batted first on day one. I was screaming at the telly and it's all Nasser Hussain's fault," former England spinner Graeme Swann told the Seven Network.
