A sensational unbeaten century from Jonny Bairstow has kept England’s hopes alive in the fourth Test of the ongoing Ashes 2021-22 series. England began their innings in the usual disappointing manner, however, valiant knocks from Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow have kept England in the Test match.
The opener Haseeb Hameed (6), once again, got out on a single-digit score as Mitchell Starc cleaned his timbers in the 10th over of the innings. His partner, Zak Crawley failed to play a substantial knock as he got out after scoring 18 off 55 deliveries.
England’s best batters in the series, Dawid Malan (3 off 39) and Joe Root (0 off 7) too had a bad day at the office as England soon found themselves at 36 for 4 in 21.5 overs. Another low-scoring total was expected in the fourth Test. However, what followed was a brilliant partnership between Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow. The duo showed grit and determination while pouncing on all the bad deliveries.
They added 128 runs for the fifth wicket and brought England back into the game. Ben Stokes amassed 66 off 91 balls and looked all set to score his first century since his international comeback. However, unfortunately, he got trapped leg-before off Nathan Lyon to leave England in trouble.
Jos Buttler had another forgettable outing as he got out on a duck off Pat Cummins in the 54th over. It looked like Australia would soon bundle England out and enforce the follow-on but, once again, England fought back.
Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood rather counter-attacked and played shots all-round the ground. The duo added 72 runs for the seventh wicket before Mark Wood got out for a well-made 39 off 41 balls. Jonny Bairstow scored a sensational century on Friday and is still unbeaten at the crease for 103 off 140. England is currently at 258 for 7 at Stumps on Day 3 of the fourth Test of Ashes 2021-22, trailing by 158 runs.
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