Jonny Bairstow scored a fantastic century as England fought back at the end of Day 3 of the fourth Ashes Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.
Resuming at a overnight score of 13/0, Mitchell Starc drew first blood by cleaning up Haseeb Hameed for 6. Scott Boland then got into the act by dismissing Zak Crawley with one that jagged back off the seam and disturbed the stumps.
Skipper Joe Root and Dawid Malan fell in succession as the visitors slumped to 36/4. Ben Stokes along with Bairstow brought the innings back on track with a 128 run stand for the fifth wicket before the former was trapped leg before wicket by Nathan Lyon for a fine 66.
Jos Buttler’s poor run with the bat continued as he spooned a simple catch to Usman Khawaja at covers off Pat Cummins for a duck.
Bairstow along with Mark Wood lead England’s fightback with a crucial 81 run stand for the seventh wicket before the latter fell to Cummins for a 41 ball-39.
The 32 year old Bairstow remained unbeaten on 103 as England went into stumps at 258/7, still trailing the hosts by 158 runs.