England's run-chasing specialists have put themselves in pole position to hunt down their most important target yet and deliver an Ashes lifeline.
With all ten wickets in hand they require a further 224 more runs to win their first match of the series and conjure up yet another magical moment in the Headingley history books.
Ashes run chases at Headingley are developing a habit of bringing the best out in England batters, whether it was Mark Butcher back in 2001, or Ben Stokes four years ago. And already both Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley look in the mood to write their names into Ashes folklore.
The two openers crunched a quartet of boundaries before they strolled back to the dressing room 27-0 at the close of day three to dream of glories to come.
It was the bowlers though who set the game up in the face of belligerent brilliance from Travis Head, doing his best Stokes impression. Head’s 77 stood tall above his team-mates who were rocked by the accuracy of Chris Woakes, the pace of Mark Wood and the sheer force and skill of Stuart Broad who more than made up for the incapacitated Ollie Robinson.
On the face of it a target of 251 should be a tricky challenge, and it would be the sixth highest successful run chase on this ground, but this England team have been set up for this. After all, they are hunting down their eighth successful run chase in the last year and have surpassed four targets greater than this one, including their previous game at this ground.
The 296 they overhauled against New Zealand last summer came courtesy of twin fifties for Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. What the local crowd would give for more of the same on Sunday. The patient Saturday crowd had to wait until 4.45pm before they got any on-field action, and even then it was just one solitary over from Chris Woakes before rain took the players scurrying from the field.
Thankfully it was only a passing shower and the hardiest of fans were rewarded with yet more absorbing cricket from two teams who are simply throwing everything that they have at each other day after day.
Any suggestion that the fast bowler’s cartel might look after each other when it comes to short pitched bowling was given short shrift as Mark Wood was told to charge in and clean up the tail. So when Mitchell Starc crunched the most impressive and authoritative on drive back past Wood for four, the gloves were off.
Wood cranked up the pistons once more and the following over had his man as a short ball was flicked up over short leg’s head only for Harry Brook to run, pause, and run again to take the catch. He stopped because he thought Jonny Bairstow might be going for it, and in truth the keeper probably should have, but confidence in that department is a little low right now so Brook did the right thing and took control.
Bairstow had already played his part in the removal of the dangerous Mitch Marsh who couldn’t quite get his gloves out the way as he tried to leave the ball and was caught. And the shaggy-haired Alex Carey departed in similar fashion, also trying to leave the ball but getting a bottom edge cannon into the stumps.
Those first two wickets had fallen to Woakes to continue his excellent return to the side in place of James Anderson, and with six wickets in the match will make the selection meeting ahead of Old Trafford a tricky one.
First things first though. They need to get this game won.
