Joe Denly insisted that England never lost faith in their ability to pull off what would be one of the most astounding wins in Ashes history after collapsing to 67 all out in the third Test against Australia at Headingley.
England’s woeful total, their lowest in Ashes cricket for 71 years, appeared to have ended any hopes they had in this match of squaring the five-Test series at 1-1.
However, come stumps on Saturday’s third day, they were 156-3 in their second innings, needing a further 203 runs to reach a target of 359.
England captain Joe Root was 75 not out after sharing a stand of 126 in 53 overs with Denly that rescued his team from yet more top-order embarrassment at 15-2.
“I still think we’re in very good position,” said Denly, who was caught behind after gloving a Josh Hazlewood bouncer.
Denly, the only England batsman to reach double figures in the first innings, with 12, added: “It’s never ideal when you get bowled out for 67. It wasn’t good enough and we had to show a bit of fight and a bit of character in the second innings.”
Denly said that England’s resolve had not faltered after their first-innings horror show.
“It was never about a draw or losing, but all about winning — that belief has to be there,” he said.
Root’s effort was especially timely given England’s best batsman had been out for nought in his previous two Test innings.
“Anytime Joe Root is scoring runs, it puts belief in the side,” Denly said. “We feed off that.”
Saturday saw Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne score 80 — his third successive Test fifty since coming in as world cricket’s inaugural concussion substitute for Steve Smith after the star batsman was hit by a Jofra Archer bouncer at Lord’s.
“As a batter you want to score hundreds, but it was more about getting as big a lead as we could,” Labuschagne said. “It’s going to be pretty tough ever to fill Steve Smith’s shoes, but from a personal perspective, I’m just trying to focus on my own game.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was