by Arthur Crabtree » Thu Jan 09, 2020 11:10 pm
Best Test match of the year was unanimous, and so that means the second miracle of Headingley, ENGLAND'S WIN IN LEEDS AGAINST AUSTRALIA, BY ONE WICKET. It levelled the series at 1-1 and kept the Ashes alive. England won after being bowled out for 67 in their first innings by Cummings, Hazlewood and Pattinson. They were set 359 runs to win, which would easily be the biggest total of the match. That just never happens. And the game moved towards its predictable conclusion as if mounted on rails. England were 159-4 and struggling. Jonny Bairstow kept Ben Stokes company for a while as England dug in, but then he went at 245-5, the lower order was blown away like sand in the Sirocco. Buttler, (1), Woakes (1), Archer (15) and Broad with a two ball duck. Jack Leach was batting below Stuart Broad. Surely any illusory hope had vanished.
There were three great factors that wrenched the wheel towards England. Stokes' blocking the previous day and and the morning of the last day. His amazing hitting as the lower order was scattered, with eight sixes. And finally, and perhaps most endearingly, Jack Leach holding an end up for Stokes, while the last 76 runs were made for the final wicket. It is a truth that is so undeniable that it is now a cliche, that one of the most fascinating aspects of the game is that many of its most crucial passages display batters in the most intense of situation purveying a skill for which they have very little aptitude. The bowlers bat at the end. Headingley had that in spades. Well done to Ben Stokes. But well done too to Jack Leach. This was England's biggest ever winning run chase. And at least arguably, their best.
After being bowled out for 67. That's what Test cricket can do.
I always say that everybody's right.