England keep Ashes series alive with win over Australia

England secured another memorable Ashes victory at Headingley after Harry Brook helped to set up a three-wicket win over Australia in the third test on Sunday to keep the five-match series alive.

Brook and Chris Woakes had shared a match-changing 59-run partnership for the seventh wicket on the fourth day before Brook was caught off Mitchell Starc to make it an increasingly tense finish. England were then at 230-7 in their second innings with a target of 251.

Playing his 10th test match, Brook scored 75 off 93 balls with nine fours. He batted with maturity and appeared ready to carry the burden all the way to the final stretch before passing it over to Woakes and Mark Wood (16 not out), who both made an emphatic first impression on their belated introductions to the series.

Woakes (32 not out) hit the winning boundary — a crunching shot that sent the ball towards the delirious Western Terrace — late in the afternoon session against Starc as England finished on 254-7.

“Another down-to-the-wire game so it’s nice to get over the line in this one and obviously keep our hopes alive,” England captain Ben Stokes said. “We brought Woody and Woakesy back into the team and it’s great when you make decisions like that and they really impact the game.”

Wood took 5-34 and 2-66 while Woakes had a six-wicket match haul that included key batters Marnus Labuschagne in the first innings and Usman Khawaja in the second.

Australia lead 2-1 with the fourth test at Old Trafford starting on July 19.

By lunch, England had moved to 153-4 and within 98 runs of its target, four years on from a famous Stokes-inspired victory at the same venue.

But the match swung Australia’s way soon after the interval when Stokes was caught behind for only 13 and Jonny Bairstow (5) was bowled — both against Starc, who finished with 5-78.

Stokes’s dismissal was a soft nick down the leg side, robbing the hosts of their inspirational captain and the architect of their 2019 Ashes miracle.

Stokes smashed 135 not out at Headingley to give England a one-wicket win in the third test of the 2019 edition of the Ashes.

England have chased down four bigger totals in the “Bazball” era, including 296 at the same ground last year, but in keeping their hopes of reclaiming the urn afloat this is likely its most satisfying pursuit yet.

After squandering promising positions at Edgbaston and Lord’s, England are finally on the board and will take renewed belief into the remaining clashes at Old Trafford and the Oval.

Asked where the latest Ashes thriller had turned against his team, Australia captain Pat Cummins said: “I think there were a few moments that went back and forth, each day really. Day one we lost six for 20-odd, yesterday the sun was out and we probably missed an opportunity as well. Just a couple of key moments.”