England keep the Ashes alive as Chris Woakes and Mark Wood complete nervy chase of 251 at Headingley

England secured a thrilling victory today in what will go down in history as another miracle from Headingley to keep this incredible Ashes series alive.

England won by three wickets in front of an ecstatic packed house at this famous old ground after another chaotic day in an Ashes series packed with them.

The hero was Mark Wood who took fast bowling to a new level on the first day of this third Test on his return to England and now crushing an unbeaten 16 just as England’s nerves were ringing.

England needed 21 as Wood joined Chris Woakes, another England player who made a successful return to England, but they crossed the line to win another epic Test to take a 2-1 deficit against Old Trafford for the fourth Test next week .

Throughout this fourth day, fortunes swung one way and the other on another riveting day, with England starting the day needing another 224 with all wickets in hand.

England were favourites, but it was never going to be easy. Australia made their first incision when Ben Duckett lbw was trapped by Mitchell Starc after escaping an earlier call via the referee’s call.

That brought the surprise sight of Moeen Ali coming in at three, as England changed their batting order to try and deploy a better mid-order balance.

It was a move that England actually considered in the run-up to this game before Harry Brook went to third in the first innings, a position he was never comfortable with.

But Moeen’s promotion didn’t work. Far from being a pinch hitter, Moeen instead tried to bat cautiously after giving his wicket away in the first innings and now fell for five balls off 15 as Starc worked his way through his defense and took out his leg stump.

Joe Root got off to a nervous start, aiming a loose drive from his first ball to Starc, but sat down to show signs of the form that gave him a brilliant century in the first Test.

On the other hand, Zak Crawley showed the class drives that have persuaded England to put so much confidence in him and the pair calmed England’s nerves to add 33 and beat Australia as excitement and anticipation began to build on the Western Terrace.

But just as England looked set to come out on top, Crawley aimed a big drive at a ball from Mitch Marsh immediately after a textbook cover drive for four and was only able to get through to Alex Carey.

He fell for 44 and after a fine start again had not gone further.

By this time the ball had been changed after a piece of leather came out of the old one and the replacement began to swing more for Australia, with Marsh taking advantage of extra bounce and movement to snare Crawley for a second time in the game.

But with Harry Brook much more comfortable back in his old slot of five and Australia not really trying him out with too much short pitch bowling on this day, four pitch England seemed to take the upper hand again as Root and Brook added 38.

Again, as England looked set to come out on top, Australia struck a vital blow 15 minutes before lunch as Root gauntled Cummins down the leg side and was taken into the safe hands of Carey.

It was the third consecutive time the Australian captain had dismissed Root and it brought the Stokes hero from Headingley to England.

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The large scalp came to Australia 10 minutes after lunch. Stokes, injured in this Test, had already taken a nasty hit in Scott Boland’s box, but had made a fine cover drive for four off Starc.

On the next ball he glanced down the leg side and was gone, meaning there would be no repeat of his 2019 exploits here or even last week’s glorious failure to hit 155 in a losing cause at Lords.

That left a lot on the shoulders of Brook and Jonny Bairstow, but Bazball’s face last summer has had a miserable run with both bat and gloves, at least since turning 78 in the first Test at Edgbaston.

Now he was targeting Starc again and could only go in his stumps to leave Australia’s firm favorites to round out the Ashes within three Tests.

Brook had other ideas and the young Yorkshireman, who had such a fast start to his international career before this series, now added 59 with Chris Woakes as Headingley took a fever amid echoes from the 2019 miracle test.

But just as England looked confident to cross the line, Brook tried to hit a short ball from the excellent Starc on 75 and only managed to get around him. The bowler and his captain both headed for the opportunity and nearly collided before Cummins took the catch.

It took 21 more, but Wood was in no mood to hang around. He had hit 24 from eight balls in the first innings after his five-wicket haul and now he was hotting Cummins for six and hitting a superb cover drive for four off Starc.

The final word went to Woakes who broke the winning frontier to create scenes reminiscent of four years ago and finished undefeated at 32. The series is alive and well and on track to become as epic as 2005’s legendary Ashes.

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