What happened on Day 3 of 5th ENG vs AUS Ashes 2023 Test at The Oval?

England batters dominated Day 3 of the fifth and final Ashes 2023 Test at The Oval on Saturday. After bowling out Australia for 295 on Day 2 and restricting their lead to a mere 12 runs, England smashed 389/9 in 80 overs.

Zak Crawley, not for the first time in the series, got England’s innings underway with a boundary, crunching Mitchell Starc (4/94) through cover for four. He featured in an impressive opening stand of 79 with Ben Duckett (42 off 55). The latter also struck two boundaries in the first over as England made an early statement of intent.

Duckett struck seven fours in his knock before perishing to Starc. The Aussie left-arm seamer got the England batter to edge a full delivery as he attempted a drive. Australia used the DRS to get the first breakthrough of the day. England captain Ben Stokes promoted himself to No. 3 and added 61 for the second wicket with Crawley.

Crawley brought up his half-century by driving Starc through the off-side and running three courtesy of a Pat Cummins misfield. Stokes could have been out on 14 as he miscued a short ball off Josh Hazlewood's bowling. However, Starc misjudged the catch at fine leg and instead ended up conceding six.

The second-wicket stand was broken when Crawley (73 off 76) nicked a wide delivery from Cummins to second slip. Australia, however, failed to strike in quick succession as Stokes and Joe Root (91) featured in a 73-run alliance for the third wicket. Having got his eye in, Root reverse-scooped Mitchell Marsh for a maximum.

The former England captain raced towards his half-century with three consecutive fours off Starc. At the other end, Stokes was also looking good for his fifty, but fell for 42, holing out to mid-on off Todd Murphy’s bowling. Harry Brook (7) came in and launched his second ball for a maximum before nicking a good delivery from Hazlewood.

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Blazing Bairstow plays an excellent hand for England

There was more suffering in store for Australia’s bowlers as Root and Jonny Bairstow (78 off 103) added a brisk 110 for the fifth wicket. The latter kept finding the boundaries with ease and reached his half-century by driving Hazlewood through cover for four.

Root got into the 90s with consecutive boundaries off Cummins. The three-figure mark, however, eluded him as Murphy got a tossed-up delivery to pitch at the edge of the rough and cleaned up the batter through the gate as the ball also kept low.

Bairstow also missed out on a ton as he edged a length ball from Starc to the keeper. His knock, which featured 11 fours, could, however, prove to be hugely significant in the context of the Test. Starc had his third when Chris Woakes (1) slammed one straight to mid-off. Moeen Ali also chipped in with a handy 29.

There was some drama in the last over of the day as well as James Anderson hammered Murphy for consecutive fours. He was adjudged lbw next ball, having missed a reverse sweep.

The tailender, however, got the decision overturned via DRS. Following a day of dazzling batting, England went to stumps with a potentially match-winning lead of 377.