Zak Crawley’s super-charged 189 fueled a dramatic England run on the second day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, which had to be won, as Australia wilted in the face of an attack from Ashes. England were on stumps 384-4 on Thursday in reply to the tourists’ first innings 317, a lead of 67 runs. The home side, who are 2-1 down with two games left in the five-game series, need a win in Manchester to hold on to their hopes of reclaiming the Ashes.
Crawley and Joe Root, who scored 84, shared a breathtaking partnership of 206 runs in just 29 overs. That score came after Crawley and Moeen Ali (54) put down 121 for the second wicket.
At the end Harry Brook was 14 not out and England captain Ben Stokes 24 not out.
Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have continued to support the inconsistent Crawley since joining forces last year. The Kent opener has become a standard bearer for England’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ style.
“I’ve been riding my luck at times, but I’ve had some good shots along the way,” Crawley told Sky Sports. “I sometimes doubt myself, but I have to say ‘stay myself’. That’s the way I play.”
The batsman, who was celebrating his first Ashes century, added: “They (Stokes and McCullum) tell me to go out and make an impact. Sometimes I have streaks of low scores, but thankfully it came out today.”
There was little hint of the tidal wave of runs to come as England reached lunch at 61-1 from 16 overs after Ben Duckett’s early loss. But at tea England were 239-2, with 178 runs in just 25 overs during the second session.
‘Credit’
Crawley himself became only the sixth England batsman to score a hundred runs in a session of an Ashes Test as he advanced from 26 to 132.
“We had some clear plans with him (Crawley), but he was too good for us on such a wicket today,” said Australian assistant coach Daniel Vettori.
“That period when he and Root got together, it was almost an all-out assault,” the former New Zealand spinner added.
Crawley extended his fourth hundred in 38 tests past 150 with two excellent straight boundaries from successive deliveries from Australian captain Pat Cummins.
But in the face of a second Test double century, and with Cummins running out of ideas, Crawley cut to all-rounder Cameron Green. It was the end of a remarkable innings in which the 25-year-old Crawley scored better than a run-a-ball, against 182 pitches, 21 fours and three sixes.
England’s 336-3 became 351-4 as Root was bowled for 84 from a Josh Hazlewood ball that remained exceptionally low. In contrast, Stokes was then hit on the helmet by a Hazlewood delivery that came up a stretch.
Australia’s woes were compounded when Starc, who led their attack 2-74 from 15 overs, left the field after landing heavily on his left shoulder and making a diving stop.
Moeen, who was retired until the start of this series, previously became only the fourth England player to complete the Test ‘double’ of 3,000 runs and 200 wickets. He was caught for 54 by a diving Usman Khawaja after a fierce draw from Starc.
Travis Head’s part-time off-breaks produced an expensive 0-48 in six overs. Australia had dropped Todd Murphy – the first time in 11 years they had not had a specialist spinner in a Test side.
In the morning, Australia were knocked out after resuming at 299-8 with none of their batsmen making more than the 51 achieved by both Marnus Labuschagne and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh. Chris Woakes ended the innings, finishing 5-62 – his first five-wicket Ashes haul.
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