After facing two back-to-back losses, England finally took a sigh of relief with a three-wicket victory over Australia in the third Ashes Test on Sunday. The Ben Stokes-led side chased the target of 251 with Harry Brook smashing 75 off 93 balls. Apart from Brook's knock, it was pacer Mark Wood's all-round contribution that helped England to stay alive in the five-match contest. Starting with his five-wicket haul, Wood went on to play a crucial knock of 16 off 8 deliveries that included a six and a four.
During the 50th over when England needed 11 runs to win, Wood played a cover drive on Mitchell Starc's delivery, which went for a beautiful boundary. The excellence of the shot left former England captain and commentator Nasser Hussain utterly impressed as he compared the English pacer with Joe Root. "That's a Joe Root cover drive from Mark Wood!" said Hussain during the commentary.
The hosts' victory reduced Australia's lead in the series to 2-1 with two Tests to play. England were struggling at 171-6 -- still needing a further 80 runs to reach a target of 251 -- after Mitchell Starc had removed skipper Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow in quick succession after lunch on the fourth day.
It was then that Brook was joined in the middle by Woakes, playing his first Test since March last year.
But with Australia eyeing a win that would have given them a first Ashes series success in England in 22 years, Brook and Woakes shared a stand of 59 that took the hosts to the brink of victory.
The situation was as much a test of Brook's sometimes fallible temperament as his undeniable talent. But it was one the 24-year-old, in just his 10th Test, passed for the most part.
There was, however, a further twist when Brook fell for 75, skying Starc (5-78) to Australia captain Pat Cummins, who nearly collided with Starc as he took the catch at mid-off.
England still required 21 more runs to win but fast bowler Wood, fresh from his quickfire 24 in the first innings, got the target down to 12 when he hooked Cummins for six. Player-of-the-match Wood, who took 5-34 with the ball in Australia's first innings, then carved Starc for four in the manner of a top-order batsman.
(With AFP Inputs)