Ashes 2019: The moments that cost Australia the third Test
Australia had enough chances to seal the Ashes series, but melted down at key moments | WATCH
It took one of the greatest innings played for England to pull off a one wicket victory in the third Test, but Australia will know it had more than enough chances to take the game and secure the Ashes.
You don’t win a Test match when you make 67 in the first inning. You don’t win it when you need to score more than any English side has in the final innings two days later.
You certainly don’t win it when the last man hesitantly approaches the wicket and you need another 72 runs.
Cricket just isn’t that sort of game.
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The flip side of that equation is they should not be lost by a team which has had its opponent on the back foot
Ben Stokes was extraordinary, his 135no the key to the team chasing down a 358-run deficit. His efforts reminiscent of Ian Botham’s six wickets and century in the incredible turnaround at the same ground 38 years earlier.
I’ve seen some remarkable cricket moments in my life but that is the best I’ve seen in over 50 years. @benstokes38 saved the Ashes and gave a magical inspirational innings. Even better than his World Cup performance.
— Geoffrey Boycott (@GeoffreyBoycott) August 25, 2019
Well done @ECB_cricket
He is being celebrated as a national hero after the match, in much the same way he was celebrated for his efforts in the World Cup final.
Michael Vaughan said the win “bettered” that feat. Mark Waugh said “no words can do justice to that game and that innings by Stokes”.
Geoffrey Boycott said it was the best cricket he had seen for half a century. Darren Lehmann said it was “one of the best innings ... you will see”.
England’s joy at Ben Stokes’ miraculous feat was matched by the despair of Nathan Lyon in the emotional moments after the batsman cracked a four to win.
As Stokes raised his arms in triumph, Lyon slumped to the ground in despair. The off-spinner knows he had a chance to pull off a run out in the final hectic minutes of the match, but a fumble cost his side.
Waugh said the bowler would have sleepless nights following his error.
A review squandered in the previous over also hurt the Australians when Lyon trapped Ben Stokes LBW with the ball after his error. If umpire Joel Wilson had made the correct call the visitors would have won and been 2-0 up in the series.
If captain Tim Paine had not wasted Australia’s second review, the outcome would have been the same.
Not sure he can quite believe what he’s just done? @benstokes38 #Ashes ðŸ´ó §ó ¢ó ¥ó ®ó §ó ¿ðŸðŸ”¥ pic.twitter.com/R5Yi1Oi4Ri
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 25, 2019
Four deliveries later the game was over and England was celebrating like it had won the World Cup for a second time.
Australia had another chance earlier when Marcus Harris dropped an extremely difficult catch off Stokes.
The all-rounder smashed 11 sixes and eight fours, scoring 74 of the last 76 runs with a No.11 batsman at the other end.
Incredible front page image on the front of The Times of an unbelievable moment in the history of the game. I can’t see the picture cred anywhere!!! but his name is @garethcopley He is English and he is my friend. 1-1 👊-👊#TheAshes19 #BenStokes 🇦🇺 ðŸ´ó §ó ¢ó ¥ó ®ó §ó ¿ pic.twitter.com/ExtYH4zLtm
— Phil Hillyard (@philthy295) August 25, 2019
shouts out to wikipedia #Ashes2019 pic.twitter.com/Ypzg0ZkuBM
— Graeme Demianyk (@GraemeDemianyk) August 25, 2019
He displayed the full range of his extraordinary skills in the Test. With Joe Root at the crease when he came to the wicket toward the back end of the third day he played with uncommon caution, scoring just two off his first 50 deliveries and taking 83 to reach double figures.
Then, with only Jack Leech at the other end he struck out, using both the ramp and the reverse sweep to hit two of the 11 sixes and ensuring the tail ender only face 17 deliveries.
His bowling in Australia’s second innings was critical to limiting the size of the chase.
Paine admits the Australians cost themselves the game, but denied they lost composure toward the end.
“I wouldn’t say we were rattled,” he said. “No doubt there was pressure, that’s Test cricket, and it was close, tight, the crowd was loud, that was as hard as it gets for a touring side. Sometimes people make mistakes and we made a couple today.
“In the end it cost us the Test match. That and an unbelievable innings — that can happen. We have time now to make sure we stick together, bounce back.
“We’ve got a tour game against Derby. As I said to the boys before I got in here, if we get caught up in the emotion of it all and get too down on things the series can be taken away from you really quickly.”
At the end of the game Paine walked across and pulled the distraught Lyon to his feet. The spinner looked dejected as he left the field.
“Gazza is obviously extremely disappointed, but no one’s perfect, people make mistakes and that happens,” he said. “The important thing is that when it happens you cop it on the chin, you hold your head up and you stick together as a team and you walk off together. We’ve got two more Test matches, we’ve been doing a lot right, instead of being caught up in the emotion of it we need to be able to deal with it.
“Yes, those losses hurt and you are allowed to show that, but I don’t think you can get caught up in it, it’s right in the middle of a series.
“It was just about getting Gazza up, he’s a really important player in our side and I said to him that if our players see him dealing with it really quickly and moving on then our younger players are going to do the same thing and we turn up to Manchester or our next training session in a much better frame of mind rather than have guys sulking or whatever you want to call it. It hurts, deal with it, move on.”
Paine refused to blame the umpire for not giving an LBW that clearly should have been given.
“I have no issue with that, we can’t control that, I don’t think I’ve got a referral correct the whole series so I can’t sit here and bag the umpires and again we have got to focus on what we can control and umpiring decisions isn’t one of them,” he said.
“I’m sure it is something that will be written about but we also had other opportunities to win the game and opportunities on other days with our batting and we didn’t take them, so to sit down and single out an umpire is unnecessary, he is no different to everyone else — he is allowed to make mistakes.”
Stokes said the victory was almost on par with the World Cup win last month.
“It’s certainly close,” he said. “Walking off there at the end when the whole of Headingley was standing up and celebrating was a very special moment and something I had to try to take in because moments like that don’t come along very often.
“It was just an amazing game to be a part of, to be there at the end and still keep our Ashes hopes was a pretty special feeling coming off at the end.”
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