The Ashes 2013: 4th Test, Day 3 - Heroes of the Day

England batsman Ian Bell cuts the ball watched by Brad Haddin during day three of 4th Investec Ashes Test match between England and Australia at Emirates Durham ICG on August 11, 2013 in Chester-le-Street, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

England fought back hard to regain honours on Day 3 after Australia had the upper hand for the first two days of the fourth Ashes Test.

Having dismissed the visitors for 270, the Poms fell to 49/3 before recovering through two fruitful partnerships to finish the day at 234/5 – a 202-run lead.

Here are the Heroes for the day:

Ian Bell (105 n.o. off 189 balls – 10 fours)

The Warwickshire batsman seems to have learned from his quick dismissal in the first innings. Curbing his attacking instincts, Bell returned to the basics as he went about resurrecting the England innings – first with Kevin Pietersen, with whom he added 106 runs for the fourth wicket, and later raised 66 for the fifth wicket with Jonny Bairstow. The trademark drives and cuts were back in full flow as Bell reached his 20th Test century.

It was nice to see the Australian players come up to the middle-order stalwart and compliment him on a well-paced knock. He will look to stretch England’s lead past the 300-run mark if he can bat throughout most of the fourth day. Terrific knock!

Kevin Pietersen (44 runs off 84 balls – 6 fours)

England batsman Kevin Pietersen picks up some runs during day three of 4th Investec Ashes Test match between England and Australia at Emirates Durham ICG on August 11, 2013 in Chester-le-Street, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

The maverick batsman was quite content to play second fiddle to Ian Bell as the two went about repairing the early damage caused by Aussie pacer Ryan Harris. He looked to be in imperious touch, scoring consecutive boundaries off a surprisingly wayward Peter Siddle, and even enjoyed a slice of luck with Haddin missing a stumping chance off Nathan Lyon.

KP fell to the Aussie off-spinner after attempting to flick him over the leg side, probably targeting mid-wicket or deep square leg; the resulting edge was safely taken by Chris Rogers. However, he and Bell had already laid the platform for England’s ever-swelling lead. A fine innings under the circumstances!

Ryan Harris (28 runs off 33 balls – 5 fours; 3/74 in 20 overs)

England’s Ian Bell (2nd R) recovers after being hit by a short ball Australia’s Ryan Harris (L) during play on the third day of the fourth Ashes cricket Test match between England and Australia at the Riverside stadium in Chester-le-Street, north-east England, on August 11, 2013. (Photo credit should read LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP/Getty Images)

The burly Australian pacer did the star turn for his side today with both bat and ball. He hit a quick-fire 28 in the morning, scoring six boundaries along the way before becoming Stuart Broad‘s fifth victim.

With the ball, Harris picked up three key England batsmen – first bowling Joe Root with a length delivery around off which straightened a bit, then removing skipper Alastair Cook with a full, wide ball outside off stump, and finally dismissing Jonathan Trott with a short ball on middle and leg.

If the Queensland bowler carries on in this vein of form, England might struggle to stretch that lead past 250.

It will be an interesting Day 4 at Chester-le-Street, with both sides striving hard to get the upper hand. England will need the tail to wag for as long as possible, giving steady support to Ian Bell as he continues his impressive run in this edition of the Ashes. Australia will look to polish off the remaining five wickets as soon as possible in order to prevent chasing a mammoth score on the last day. Game on!