On a day when Australia admitted they were buffeted by “the perfect storm” Zak Crawley was the whirlwind, scoring 189 off 182 balls, an innings decorated with 21 fours and three sixes, before insisting that he had “felt in better touch at other times” and “it wasn’t actually that easy to score”.
Crawley, who has retained the fierce loyalty of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum despite some inconsistent returns, said: “It’s fair to say that under any other coach or captain I probably wouldn’t be playing this series.” But he repaid their faith by manoeuvring England towards a dominant position, already 67 ahead after reaching 384 for four at stumps, sharing partnerships of 121 with Moeen Ali and 206 with Joe Root, both of whom made half-centuries.
