Ollie Pope and Pat Cummins. (Photo Source: Twitter/ICC and SonyLiv)
The Day 4 of the first Test of Ashes 2023 began with England resuming their second innings on 28/2 leading by 35 runs with Joe Root (0*) and Ollie Pope (0*) at the crease. England made their intentions clear from the first ball itself as Root began the day trying to reverse-scoop Pat Cummins over the slip cordon. However, the star batter was successful in his attempt a few overs later as he sent Scott Boland flying away for a six using the same shot and further scored a boundary off the next ball in the same manner.
The Pope and Root duo scored 43 in the first five overs of the day and were quickly running away with the game by pressing on the accelerator. Seeing himself losing his hold on the game, Australian skipper Pat Cummins took the onus upon himself to bring his team back into the match.
The speedster came in to bowl the 17th over of the innings and produced a searing yorker that crashed into Pope’s stumps to give his side the much-needed breakthrough. As a result, the quick-fire 50-run stand off 47 balls came to an end as Pope departed for 14.
The perfect yorker 😍
Pat Cummins at his sizzling best ♨#SonySportsNetwork #TheAshes #ENGvAUS #RivalsForever pic.twitter.com/E6EIHQBI2u
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) June 19, 2023
Cummins scored crucial 38 on Day 3
Earlier on Day 3, Cummins played a brilliant innings of 38 (62) to help his side reach closer to England’s first innings score of 393/8d. He smacked three sixes nd played a crucial role lower down the order. Following his batting heroics, Cummins further starred with the ball as he struck the first blow for his side in the second innings as he dismissed Ben Duckett (19) getting him out caught at gully.
After getting three wickets under 100, Australia will look to restrict England under 250 to be confident of the chase in the fourth innings. Meanwhile, after the majority of the overs were lost on Day 3 due to rain, there will be an addition of extra 15 minutes in the first and second sessions on Day 4 to make up for the loss of play.