England v Australia 5th Ashes Test day 3 review: Australia close in consolation victory

England v Australia 5^th Ashes Test day 3 review: Australia close in consolation victory: Australia reduced England to 203 for six to move to the brink of a consolation victory on the third day of the final Ashes Test at The Oval on Saturday. England captain Alastair Cook made a brave 85 before falling to Steve Smith shortly before the close with the touring side, 129 runs ahead, and needing four more wickets to end the series on a high after handing over the urn.

Moeen Ali and Mark Wood began day 3 with an intent to defy the Australian bowlers as long as possible and they did it comfortably for a while. They played with ease that was absent in the top-order and soon brought up a half-century stand for the ninth wicket.

Johnson picked up Wood and Moeen on back-to-back deliveries. And for the first time ever Michael Clarke enforced follow-on in his Test career. Adam Lyth perished early yet again and will now come under serious scrutiny to retain his place in the next series. Ian Bell might have survived a couple of close calls but he was not able to capitalize on his luck. For a while, England resisted. Cook held one end up and brought up a solid fifty – his 44th in Tests. He took 27 balls to score his first run and batted with watchful intent, determined to avoid a repeat of the collapse England suffered on Friday. Cook had support from Joe Root for some time but the young batsman perished to Mitchell Johnson, giving Australia their third wicket.

Lyon struck twice in the same over to peg back England. He first removed Bairstow and broke the 41-run stand between him and Cook. Replays though suggested Bairstow had been unlucky as the ball had hit Voges’s protective helmet and so should have been ruled a dead ball.

Three balls later, Stokes edged a half-hearted drive to Clarke at first slip. Poor Alastair Cook, he was looking to grind it out, refusing to give in but he was running out of partners. Cook was the only England batsman who stood tall amidst the flurry of wickets but Steve Smith ended his stubborn innings just a couple of overs before stumps. Cook, who has never scored an Ashes hundred in England, was out for 85 having batted for more than five-and-a-half hours while facing 234 balls including 11 fours.

England’s batsmen continued to put up a listless show and it looks certain that they will suffer a massive defeat. Australia put up a thoroughly professional performance for the third day in a row and now need just 4 more wickets to seal a consolation win.

Nathan Lyon bowled superbly for the visitors. He got lovely drift and extracted overspin to trouble the English batsmen. Peter Siddle, Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Johnson gave creditable performances too. Siddle, in fact, stood out among the pacers by bowling with excellent control. He bowled as many as 10 maiden overs. Other than Michael Clarke dropping Ian Bell, Australia’s fielding, too, was largely sharp.

Players from both sides wore black armbands in memory of Australia’s Arthur Morris, one of Test cricket’s greatest opening batsman, who died at the age of 93 on Saturday.

England are still 129 runs behind and the Aussies would want to wrap this up in the first session itself on Sunday. Showers are predicted, but with two days to ago, one expects the visitors to eventually win the dead-rubber contest.

Brief Scores:

England 1^st innings-  149 (Moeen Ali 30, Wood 24; Marsh 3-30, Johnson 3-21)

England 2^nd innings- (following on) 203/6 (Cook 85, Buttler 33*; Lyon 2-52, Smith 1-7)