Ashes 2019: Rain delays start of day three of fourth Test at Old Trafford
Written by News on 06/09/2019
Persistent wiped out the opening session on day three in the fourth Test at Old Trafford and left Australia waiting in their attempts to push for an Ashes-retaining victory.
Play finally got under way at 1.30pm, with the afternoon session to conclude at 4.20pm and the final session to run from 4.40pm until 7pm or potentially 7.30pm, with 78 overs scheduled to be bowled.
England – who must avoid defeat in order to keep their hopes of regaining the urn alive – resumed on 23-1 in Manchester, a mammoth 474 runs behind Australia’s Steve Smith-inspired 497-8 declared.
Joe Denly (4), having swapped places in the order with Jason Roy, was dismissed via a superb short-leg catch from Matthew Wade off Pat Cummins, leaving Rory Burns (15no) and nightwatchman Craig Overton (3no) at the crease after the first 10 overs of England’s innings.
The forecast is brighter for Friday afternoon and the weekend, meaning Australia will fancy their chances of preserving their grip on the Ashes having been scuppered by Ben Stokes’s heroics at Headingley in the third Test as England chased down 359 to level the series at 1-1.
England wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, though, has backed his side to dig in with the bat, just as they did in Leeds second time around having been steamrolled for 67 in their first innings.
“There’s three innings still to go in the game, three days of cricket left,” said the 29-year-old, who is due to bat at No 6.
“If we can go out and apply ourselves, set our stall out to bat for a long period of time like we did at Headingley, there’s no reason why [we cannot get back into the Test].”
Smith’s third Ashes double century – and third ton in four innings in this series – underpinned Australia’s total, the 30-year-old notching 211 in his first Test knock since returning from concussion.
Smith has notched 589 runs in the series, at an average of 147.25 and with a lowest score 92, with his overall batting average in Test cricket now standing at 64.64 after his 26th hundred in the format.
But the batsman says he was aided in his most recent big score by England frequently bowling short.
“I’ve faced a lot of short-pitched bowling in my life and haven’t had too many issues with it,” said Smith, who suffered his concussion when he was struck on the neck by a Jofra Archer bouncer in the second Test at Lord’s.
“I said it before the game – bowling there means they can’t hit me on the pad or nick me off. It softens their ball up as well.
“It played into our hands, I think, and enabled that ball to get soft pretty quickly and for us to score big first-innings runs.”
Watch day three of the fourth Ashes Test live on Sky Sports The Ashes. You can also follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips on our rolling blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
(c) Sky Sports 2019: Ashes 2019: Rain delays start of day three of fourth Test at Old Trafford
