Ashes 2023: First Test in balance as Australia reach 107/3 in chase of 281 against England

The First Test of the 2023 Ashes series hangs in balance as Australia shot out England for 273 and knocked off 1073 in their second innings leaving them 174 runs behind with one days play remaining at the Edgbaston here on MondayAustralia skipper Pat Cummins 463 and spinner Nathan Lyon 480 shared eight wickets between them as Australia who had conceded a small lead to England shot out the hosts for 273 in their second inningsJoe Root inspired a quickfire England start to the day with Harry Brook and Ben Stokes also making valuable contributionsBut fourwicket hauls for the outstanding Cummins and Lyon saw England bowled out for 273 leaving a target of 281 for the tourists to win the TestStuart Broad took two crucial late wickets to leave an England win still very much in the mix with some cloud and possible rain delays expected on the fifth dayThe England middleorder of Joe Root 46 off 55 balls Harry Brook 46 off 52 and captain Ben Stokes 43 off 66 got the start but could not raise a big score as England failed to take advantage of the psychological advantage they had gained in this TestAustralias chase began with a missed opportunity off the bowling of James Anderson as an edge off Usman Khawaja flew between Jonny Bairstow and Root at first slip And the openers put together a solid partnership worth 61 to build a good platform in the chase before Ollie Robinson got the crucial breakthrough by drawing an edge from David Warner 36Englands chances of securing victory on day five were given a boost when a firedup Broad removed Marnus Labuschagne 13 for the second time in the match once again with an outswinger And Broad struck again to dismiss Steve Smith for sixBut Australia made it through to the close just three down with Khawaja and nightwatchman Scott Boland set to resume with the score on 1073 and with the target still very much within their reachEarlier an attempted reverse scoop from Joe Root off Pat Cummins first ball of the day set the tone for a dramatic first hour in which England raced to triple figuresCummins responded to that early challenge with a stunning spell of fast bowling cleaning up Ollie Pope for 14 with a perfectlyexecuted inswinging yorker But the brilliance of Cummins didnt stop England going after the rest of the Australian attackEngland raised 127 runs in the opening session for the loss of three wickets leaving both teams betterplaced to win the Test than they had been at the start of playRoots 55ball 46 ended when he charged Nathan Lyon and was stumped for the first time in his Test career handing Alex Carey and Lyon their third stumping of the TestAnd Harry Brook also departed for 46 his coming off 52 balls when he took on Lyon and was well caught by Marnus LabuschagneBen Stokes and Jonny Bairstow changed the approach almost immediately as they slowed the pace of scoring through to the lunch break with the latter surviving lbw calls off Scott Boland in consecutive balls of the final over of the sessionWith the score at 1555 at lunch and England leading by 162 the game was perfectly poised with five sessions and some forecasted rain to comeA missed reverse sweep saw Bairstow trapped lbw by Lyon for 20 and Cummins superb day continued when he had Stokes trapped in front for 43 just as he was looking to accelerate And when Moeen Ali gloved behind off Josh Hazlewood for 19 it looked like Englands innings was going to fizzle outBut the tail added some muchneeded runs with Ollie Robinson 27 James Anderson 12 and Stuart Broad 10 lifting the total to 273 leaving Australia needing 281 to win All nine England batters to feature on the day reached double figures but none was able to reach a halfcentury as Australia kept the target under controlBrief scoresEngland 3938 decl amp 273 in 662 overs Joe Root 46 Harry Brook 46 Ben Stokes 43 Pat Cummins 463 Nathan Lyon 480 lead Australia 386 amp 1073 in 30 overs Usman Khawaja 34 not out David Warner 36 Stuart Broad 228 by 174 runsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever