Jonny Bairstow remained unbeaten on 103 – his seventh Test hundred – to help England reach 258/7 at stumps on Day 3 of the fourth Ashes Test match, at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He and Ben Stokes rescued England with a 128-run fifth-wicket stand after they were left reeling at 36/4. However, they still trail by 158 runs in the first innings.
Stokes was dropped by Pat Cummins on nine. He got another life on 16 when Cam Green’s ball hit the stumps – reasonably hard, too – but did not dislodge the bails. He rode on his luck to bat through the entire second session with Bairstow to help England batters stage a fightback – a rarity in this series. They scored 99 in the session.
Stokes fell for 66 after the break, to Nathan Lyon, England lost two wickets in quick succession. Jos Buttler then went without scoring. England were still 44 away from avoiding the follow on at that point. Mark Wood then joined hands with Bairstow, scoring a 41-ball 39 to save his side from yet another embarrassment.
Wood became the first player to hit Cummins, the top-ranked bowler in the world, for three sixes in a Test innings before the latter had him at the closing stages of the day. Jack Leach (5*) then held on for the final five overs until Bairstow notched England’s first hundred of the ongoing tour in the last over to help England finish on a high.
Earlier, play had been delayed by two hours due to persistent rain. England, resuming at 13/0, were predictably in tatters yet again in the morning session. At one phase, they lost three wickets in 53 balls without scoring a run. They seemed on the verge of yet another defeat after Joe Root fell for a seven-ball duck, off Scott Boland (2-25), before Stokes and Bairstow gave England hope to salvage a draw.
Brief scores: Australia 416/8 decl. (Usman Khawaja 137; Stuart Broad 5-101) lead England 258/7 (Jonny Bairstow 103*; Scott Boland 2-25) by 158 runs.