Twitter Reactions: Jonny Bairstow gives England respectability in Sydney Test

Mark Wood and Ben Stokes also played handy knocks for the Brits.

By Sabyasachi Chowdhury

View : 4.6K

2 Min Read

Jonny Bairstow
info
Jonny Bairstow. (Photo by Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

England already found themselves on the backfoot after Australia breached the 400-run mark in their first innings of the fourth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The second also belonged to the home team as the Brits are still trailing by 158 runs with three wickets in hand. Barring Jonny Bairstow’s century, the visiting team would have been in dire straits in the penultimate game of the series.

Stokes stands tall for England

After England came out to bat with a trail of 413 runs, although with all their wickets intact, they found the going tough. Mitchell Starc struck first blood, castling Haseeb Hameed after which Scot Boland got rid of Zak Crawley and Joe Root in pretty quick succession. Root, the leading run-scorer of the series, failed to open his account as England were reduced to 36 for four in the 21st over.

From there on, Ben Stokes and Bairstow took charge and guided England to safer shores on the third day. The duo put on 128 runs for the fifth wicket and made the Aussie bowlers work hard. Stokes had a slice of luck after the ball hit the stumps, but the bails didn’t come off its groove. The on-field umpire adjudged Stokes Leg Before after which replays revealed the entire story surrounding the dismissal.

Bairstow makes hay

Stokes went on to score a half-century off 70 balls and finished with a 91-ball 66, laced with nine fours and one six. Nathan Lyon accounted for his wicket, trapping him plumb in front. Pat Cummins got rid of Jos Buttler to pile on more misery for the Three Lions. Bairstow, on the other hand, looked gritty and stayed unbeaten on 103 runs off 140 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes.

He was also involved in a 72-run partnership with Mark Wood for the seventh wicket that also helped England avoid the follow on. Wood was the attacking off the two as he smashed two fours and three sixes on his way to a 41-ball 39. Jack Leach played out 15 balls for four runs and made sure that England didn’t lose more wickets by the close of play.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to the day’s play in Sydney

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store
The Ashes 2023AustraliaEngland