Day 3 report: Ollie Pope and Joe Root will look to start afresh on Monday after England were 28/2 in the second innings when play was called off on Day 3 of the first Ashes Test due to rain.
With Australia having finished their first innings with a score of 386, England now hold a 35-run lead in the second Test, to leave the Test evenly poised at Edgbaston.
‘Only 32.4 overs were possible on Sunday after rain interrupted play, and that means a total of 98 overs will be bowled on Monday to make up for lost time. The second and third sessions will be extended by 15 minutes each.
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A pitch inspection at 6 pm local time led to play being called off for the day with only 10.3 overs bowled so far in the England innings. Monday’s forecast is mostly rain-free but Tuesday afternoon could see heavy rain and thunder.
Play was first interrupted early in the afternoon session with England at 26-0 and buoyed from dismissing Australia for 386 right before lunch which gave Ben Stokes’ team a narrow first-innings lead of seven runs. Usman Khawaja was out for a superb 141 as Australia closed in on England’s 393-8 declared.
When play resumed after 75 minutes, England went on to lose both its openers in a disastrous mini-session of only four overs under floodlights. Rain was heavier this time and players again left the field — quicker than when they came on — with England having increased its score by just two runs at the cost of two wickets. In one ray of sunshine for England, it survived a potentially match-deciding appeal for a catch against its top batter Joe Root.
Australia captain Pat Cummins, who scored a six-laden 38 at No. 8 in sunshine, took 1-9 in 5.3 overs as the weather deteriorated in the afternoon. Scott Boland grabbed 1-1 in two overs.
Ben Duckett (19) edged Cummins to Cameron Green, who again showed his brilliance in the field by diving low to his left at gully. The dismissal survived a review despite the replay initially drawing jeers from home fans.
Three balls later Zak Crawley (7) was caught by wicketkeeper Alex Carey off Boland.
Enter Root, Australia’s nemesis in the first innings with his 29th test century, who skipped on to the pitch despite the increasing gloom and doom on what had been a mostly unthreatening wicket.
Root survived an early appeal against Cummins for a catch behind. Two balls later, heavy rain forced the teams off again. Ollie Pope and Root are both on 0. Even under England’s aggressive “Bazball” style of cricket, neither batter would have likely wanted to get back out Sunday.
With inputs from AP
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