England dominated the morning session of day three of the fifth Ashes test at the Oval. Trailing by 12 runs after dismissing Australia for 295 on day two, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley strode out with positive intent and dispatched Mitchell Starc’s first over of the day for 13 to send England ahead.
From there, the openers quickly notched up a partnership of 79 before Duckett (42) feathered an edge through to wicketkeeper Alex Carey when Starc returned in the second hour’s play. Crawley (71) and Ben Stokes (42) guided England to lunch with the score at 130-1.
The afternoon session was a closer affair as Crawley fell shortly after the restart. Joe Root was hungry to score and added 73 with Stokes and going to another half-century. When the England captain chipped Todd Murphy to mid-on it looked as though England may start to rock and that was compounded by the loss of Harry Brook for 7.
Jonny Bairstow settled the ship and with Root took England’s lead to 253 at tea.
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