Ashes 3rd Test: Root-Crawley partnership keeps England in hunt as 329 more needed to win (Day 2, Tea)

Adelaide [Australia], December 20 : After two early wickets, an unbeaten 75-run partnership for the third wicket between Joe Root and Zak Crawley continued keeping England alive, as they still needed 329 runs at the end of the second session on day four of the third Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
At the end of the second session, England was 106/2, with Root (37*) and Crawley (36*) unbeaten.
England started the second session at 5/1, with Crawley (1*) and Ollie Pope (0*) unbeaten, needing to chase down a 435-run target to keep the Ashes alive.
England got some lucky runs, with four leg byes on two occasions by Mitchell Starc and a streaky shot from Pope. Crawley and Pope seemed to be stitching a partnership, but the latter's luck ran out during skipper Pat Cummins' 10th over, as a blinder from Marnus Labuschagne at slips ended Pope's knock at 29-ball 17, with two fours. Marnus dove to his left to send back England's number three packing, continuing his poor Ashes run. England was 31/2 in 9.4 overs.
Finally, after 29 balls, Crawley managed a boundary, unleashing a fine cover drive against Starc. Crawley, who had taken 12 runs to open his run tally, displayed immense patience, leaving balls outside off stump he had no business playing. Joe Root survived a thick outside edge which did not carry to Usman Khawaja in the slips, and the duo took England to the 50-run mark in 14.2 overs.
In the 16th over against spinner Nathan Lyon, Root attempted to disturb his rhythm, first with a sweep for four and then a reverse sweep a ball later to send the crowd into a huge 'Roooooooooot' chant.
It was then Crawley's turn to get his share of boundaries against Lyon, as he was thirsting for some aggression, to feel the ball on his bat. The duo continued to continue an odd boundary or two against Lyon and Cameron Green, bringing up the 100-run mark in 26.1 overs. The duo made sure England escaped the session unschated.
At the end of the first session, England was 5/1, with Zak Crawley (1*) and Ollie Pope (0*) unbeaten. They need to chase down their highest-ever total in Test history to win the third Test and keep the Ashes alive.
Australia started the day three at 271/4, with Head (142*) and Carey (52*) unbeaten and their team in the driver's seat with a 356-run lead.
Carey and Head started off by getting boundaries against Brydon Carse.
Head's marathon knock was ended by Josh Tongue, who got him to hand a catch to Zak Crawley at deep square leg. The hometown hero departed for a 219-ball 170 (with 16 fours and a six). Australia was 311/5 in 74 overs.
The 400-run lead was soon up.
Skipper Ben Stokes removed Carey for a 128-ball 72, with six fours. A short ball from him got him caught by Harry Brook at slips. Australia was 329/6 in 78.2 overs.
Tongue had Josh Inglis (10) caught behind by Jamie Smith, while in the 84th over, Brydon had skipper Pat Cummins (7) and Nathan Lyon (0) caught and trapped lbw respectively, reducing Australia to 344/9 in 83.5 overs.
Finally, a fine diving catch by Jofra Archer to remove Scott Boland (1) ended the Aussies' innings at 349 runs, with a lead of 434 runs, and England set 435 to win.
Tongue (4/70) and Carse (3/80) were the top bowlers for England, while Stokes, Will Jacks and Archer got a piece each.
England needed to chase their highest Test target ever to keep the Ashes alive.
However, England could not have got to a much worse start than just after a four on the first ball by Ben Duckett, who was caught by Marnus Labuschagne at slips. England was 4/1 in 0.2 overs.
At the end of day three, England was 271/4, with Head (142*) and Carey (52*) unbeaten. They lead by 356 runs.
Australia started the final session at 119/2, with Head (68*) and Khawaja (27*) unbeaten and a lead of 204 runs. While England removed Usman Khawaja (40 in 51 balls, with four boundaries) and Cameron Green quickly to reduce Australia to 149/4 by Jacks and Tongue, Head raced to his fourth-successive century at Adelaide Oval in 146 balls, with eight fours and two sixes and Carey also reached his half century in 84 balls, with four boundaries, ending the session safely for Aussies.
At the end of the second session, Australia was 119/2, with Head (68*) and Khawaja (27*) unbeaten.
Australia started the second session at 17/1, with Head (5*) and Marnus Labuschagne (4*) unbeaten, having lost Jake Weatherald to Carse for just one, trapping him lbw.
England started their day three at 213/8, with skipper Ben Stokes (45*) and Jofra Archer (30*) unbeaten.
Stokes started with a beautiful extra cover drive in the first over and eventually reached a valiant fifty in 159 balls, with four boundaries.
After Stokes reached his milestone, he and Archer took a slightly attacking route with a couple of hits against Nathan Lyon, with Archer displaying the grit missing from the top order. With a single from Stokes, England reached the 250-run mark in 77.2 overs.
In the 82nd over, Stokes continued proving his worth as the ultimate miracle man, with two boundaries in a row against Aussie skipper Pat Cummins, bringing the century stand in 164 balls.
Archer's grind paid dividends as he reached his maiden Test fifty in 97 balls, with five fours and a six.
The partnership ended at 103 runs, with Mitchell Starc making a mess of Stokes's off stump with a wobble-seamed delivery. The skipper was gone for 83 in 198 balls, with eight fours. England was nine down for 274 runs in 84.1 overs.
With the lead finally under 100, Archer and Josh Tongue carried on for a while until Scott Boland cleaned up Archer for a 105-ball 51. England was all out for 286, trailing by 85 runs.
Boland (3/45) and skipper Cummins (3/69) were the top bowlers for the Aussies.
Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. After being reduced to 94/4 courtesy some incredible bowling from Archer (5/53), a 91-run stand between Usman Khawaja (82 in 126 balls, with 10 fours) and Alex Carey brought the Aussies back in the game. Carey went on to get his first Ashes ton, scoring 106 in 143 balls, with eight fours and a six. Mitchell Starc (54 in 75 balls, with eight fours) also continued a dream run with the bat as the Aussies piled on 371 runs.
Brief Scores: Australia: 371 and 349 (Travis Head 170, Alex Carey 72, Josh Tongue 4/80) vs England: 286 and 106/2 in 27 overs (Joe Root 37*, Zak Crawley 36*, Pat Cummins 2/19).