Stuart Broad believes England’s fate is in their own hands after day three of first Ashes Test

Stuart Broad insists England’s fate remains firmly in their own hands despite a difficult third day of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane.

Australia captain Steve Smith’s superb 141 not out lifted Australia to 328 all out and a slender 26-run first-innings lead.

Josh Hazlewood then snared Alastair Cook and James Vince before England had wiped out the deficit, but Mark Stoneman and Joe Root survived a testing barrage of pace and spin to steer the tourists to 33-2 at the close.

It gives the tourists a lead of seven with eight wickets remaining and Broad remains optimistic about his side’s chances in batting conditions that look to be getting easier on an untypically slow surface at the Gabba.

"I’ve pretty much left every day of this Test match not knowing who’s ahead," Broad said.

"I think we had a fantastic morning, stuck to some brilliant plans and then the new ball worked for us. I really do think it’s a new ball pitch – once the ball gets 20 overs old the pitch gets quite slow and quite hard to force a mistake out of the batsmen.

"Today [Saturday] we saw a lot less spin, maybe the moisture had come out of the pitch slightly and that will probably continue into tomorrow as well.

"Day three and day four will be the best times to bat on this pitch and that’s good signs for us. It’s in our hands a little bit.

"If we have a couple of batsmen apply themselves tomorrow, play with some great patience then we can build a really good score to put Australia under pressure on the last day.

"We are the best placed England side here [at the Gabba] after 30 years, so if we have a good tomorrow we set ourselves up in this Test match."

Smith’s masterful innings was the highlight of another enthralling day’s play and the Aussie skipper compiled his knock over 326 deliveries and more than eight and a half hours.

And Broad, who praised the way England’s bowlers bowled at Smith, has asked his side’s top order to follow the Aussie captain’s lead on day four.

"He played brilliantly," the England quick said. "That’s what you come to expect from him in Australia. He played with a lot of patience, he was very disciplined around his off-stump, but also credit to our bowling attack.

"We didn’t let them get away from us at any stage and we’ve seen as a batting group, if someone shows a lot of patience and gets stuck in, it can be quite hard to get them out. If we can take the pressure well tomorrow we can put ourselves in a good place."

Broad was the pick of the England bowlers with three for 49 across 25 overs, while new-ball partner Anderson also retained control as he went at under two an over in his two for 50.

However, he bowled only three overs with the new ball and was seen to be wincing and feeling his side in the outfield.

Broad added of his fellow seamer: "He’s fully fit and healthy, he bowled 30-odd overs in the end, I think. He bowled exceptionally, I thought."

(c) Sky News 2017: Stuart Broad believes England’s fate is in their own hands after day three of first Ashes Test