England have won the third Ashes test after securing a three-wicket win against Australia at Headingley.
It means Ben Stokes’ will now get their first win of the series going 2-1 having lost the opening two matches at Edgbaston and Lord’s.
Australia had set them a run chase of 251, but with six wickets down and 171 on the board England had a lot of work to do to chase down the tourists.
But they pulled off a thrilling victory in what will go down in the history books as another miracle at Headingley with Mark Wood and Chris Woakes holding out against the Australian attack to hit their way over the line and keep the Ashes alive.
Wood was the star of the show taking seven wickets throughout the match, before hitting 16 (not out) to guide England to the win.
Mail Sport’s Richard Gibson was at Headingley and recaps on some of the things you may have missed from the third Ashes Test.
Ben Stokes’ (left) side beat Australia by three wickets to win the third Ashes Test Match
Mark Wood (right) and Chris Woakes (left) held out in the middle at Headingley in what was a thrilling finish as England overcame their 251 run chase on the final day
Wood was the stand out performer for England taking seven wickets across two innings
England and Australia have contested over-rate penalties
Both England and Australia have contested the hefty over-rate penalties imposed upon them following the tempestuous Lord’s Test.
England were shown to be more than eight overs behind and the Australians even further off the requirement at the close of Australia’s 43-run victory – teams are docked one World Test Championship point and 20% of their match fees for every over they are short.
Allowances are made for stoppages like the opening day’s Just Stop Oil protest and a raft of strikes to the helmets of batsmen. Four minutes are taken off for each drinks break and two for every wicket.
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However, a match dominated by seamers – not helped by Australia’s spinner Nathan Lyon limping off in the first innings – was continuously playing catch-up, not helped by a plague of wides and no-balls. England sent down 24 extra deliveries.
ICC match referee Andy Pycroft is understood to have reduced the punishments marginally but both sets of players were set to lose their entire match fees. Sources suggest the ECB are considering paying England’s £15,000-a-man fines.
Australia gained 12 WTC points for winning but are farcically facing losing two-thirds of those.
In the inaugural Championship ending in the summer of 2021, the Australians missed out on a place in the final due to penalty points.
The ICC are expected to clarify the result of the appeals this week.
Sleeping in the stands?
Yorkshire oddly rubbished claims one fan slept in the west stand on Saturday night to guarantee a seat for yesterday’s action, but then flatly refused to discuss how their security had been breached nearly two hours before gates opened to the public.
James Cole was given a shock preparing his early morning report for Sky Sports News when the man stirred on the terrace, purportedly awakening after attending on day three and then stowing himself in the ground.
However, a Yorkshire spokesperson insisted it was a prank, adding: ‘CCTV evidence shows that an individual placed themselves in the Western Terrace after 7.15am this morning, while filming themselves. Security quickly dealt with the individual and enquiries are ongoing.’
Meanwhile, the security firm contracted to Headingley reckoned Saturday’s play featured a first – a female fan ejected from the ground for persistent abuse of Australian supporters in the Howard Stand.
Australia and England will both contest over-rate penalties from the ICC that have been applied during the match
The win means England have now rescued the Ashes and will head into the fourth test with a chance to go level with Australia
‘Same old Aussies’
Yorkshire’s new board have welcomed a raft of small businesses as partners in recent months, but Taylor’s Sports Bar in Headingley appeared to get maximum exposure for a modest investment when they hired a light aircraft tailing the message: ‘Same old Aussies!’
The pre-lunch flyover was the talk of the terraces and discussed on radio and TV feeds around the world.
Cumbrian town produces two of this weekend’s England stars
Ben Stokes wasn’t the only sports star from Cockermouth celebrating over the weekend.
Like Stokes, James Trafford, the penalty-saving goalkeeper in England’s Under-21 European Championship-winning team, was also raised in the Cumbrian town.
Neser heads released back to Glamorgan
Michael Neser has been released from Australia’s Ashes squad to play for Glamorgan in today’s County Championship fixture against Leicestershire.
In contrast to team-mate Todd Murphy, Neser is eligible to play Championship cricket as he began the season as an overseas player with the Welsh county, taking 19 wickets in five appearances before his Ashes call-up.
As off-spinner Murphy, 22, arrived in the UK as part of the tour squad, he was on a different visa to Neser and was therefore required to leave the country and re-enter to feature for Durham.
Australia’s Michael Neser has been released to return to play for his county Glamorgan in the County Championship
Meanwhile, Headingley ground staff have been applauded for what was a very fast outfield and superb pitch
But a whistle-stop trip to Paris that would have seen him secure the correct paperwork was aborted between the first and second Tests due to cancelled flights to France and injury to Nathan Lyon made rearranging such a trip unnecessary.
Yorkshire ground staff are rewarded for their efforts
England’s players were astonished how hard the outfield was at Headingley this week and credit goes to Yorkshire’s long-serving groundsman Andy Fogarty.
After 26 years of preparing the pitches in Leeds, Fogarty passed on the head of grounds role to Richard Robinson on the eve of this season, and focused on the rolling of the rest of the playing area instead.
Recognition for Fogarty’s work came yesterday when he won the one-day prize at this year’s ECB ground managers’ awards.
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