Ashes 2019 LIVE: Result and reaction as Ben Stokes 135 completes miracle comeback over Australia
Follow LIVE reaction from an astonishing day of Test cricket
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Your support makes all the difference.England's Ben Stokes defiantly took the game to Australia to save their Ashes hopes in the third Test at Headingley with one of the greatest innings ever seen.
Stokes pulled off a 76-run partnership with his final teammate, Jack Leach, hitting sixes for fun in a remarkable solo effort.
The series remains alive and goes to the fourth Test at Old Trafford all square. Follow LIVE reaction below.
Test preview:
When is the third Test?
The third Test takes place on 22-26 August.
What time does it start?
The toss takes place at 10:30am in Thursday, with play scheduled to get underway at 11am each day.
Where can I watch it?
Live coverage of each day’s play will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports The Ashes from 10am.
ENGLAND WIN THE THIRD TEST!
Stokes cuts the ball away for four and roars in delight! The crowd erupts. England win by one wicket in one of the greatest test matches of all time.
Stokes, rightly, takes all the applause. He looks exhausted, drained, physically and mentally. Every England player has come to the middle to congratulate him. A sublime performance from one of the great all-rounders.
Jack Leach deserves plenty of praise, too. The pressure was huge before he worked the ball away for the single that levelled the scores. But he was unflappable.
Australia captain Tim Paine, speaking to Sky Sports: "It’s hard to take. But you’ve got to tip your hat sometimes and Ben Stokes played an unbelievable innings. That’s probably the best Test innings I’ve seen, and he was too good for us. He bats really well with the tail. He controls the game.
"There are always things you can do differently, but cricket is a game of inches. It tests your character. It’s not the end of the world. We’re here to win the series and we’ve got two opportunities to do that. We’ve spoken a lot about playing on skill, not emotion, and I reiterated it to the boys just then: if we continue to do what we do, we think we’ll be right in the mix in the last two Tests.”
Joe Root, speaking to Sky Sports: “We’ve witnessed some freakish things throughout the summer. I didn’t think we’d see something similar in these series. It was an incredible atmosphere in this ground. Test cricket is alive and kicking and the Ashes is alive and kicking.
“To try to sum Ben’s innings up in words is impossible. Outrageous batting, it really was. To be able to stay so calm and calculating was incredible. It’s a fabulous lesson that you should never give up."
Ben Stokes: "When it got down to 20s, I was thinking I should rein it in now. But in the 70s, 60s, 50s, I had to really try to go. I was in the zone, I knew what I needed to do.
"It was unbelievable, it was one I'll never forget. I've got to try to let it sink in now because I don't think I'll be involved with something that again."
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