Ashes: England manages a slender lead

Australian quicks Pat Cummins and Scott Boland exploited the overcast conditions as England finish Day 3 at 28/2, lead by 35 runs. Joe Root along with Ollie Pope will resume the action on the fourth day as it will be interesting to see England stick to their “Bazball” approach, or play the traditional format the way it is played by most. Both Root and Pope are yet to get off the mark and a lot will depend on them. Australia, on the other hand, would look to carry forward the momentum and restrict England for as low as possible to give them a chance to go 1-0 up in the five-match series. The day started with England folding Australia’s first innings for 386 and took a 7-run lead. Australia had resumed the day from the overnight score of 311/5 and Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey kicked-off on the same note from where they left. James Anderson provided England with the first breakthrough, cleaning up Carey for 66. Pat Cummins and Khawaja then took Australia close to England’s first innings total of 393/8 (declared) before Ollie Robinson brought an end to Khawaja’s innings on 141. Cummins was the final batter to depart for 38 after being caught by Ben Stokes.