Former England skipper Nasser Hussain reckons that England is still favourites going into the final day of the cracker Ashes series at the Oval. Australia was the dominant side against England in a rain-curtailed Day 4 as they are well on track to chase down historic on the final day of the series with England bowlers failing to produce a single breakthrough for their team in the 2nd innings.
Australian openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner put in an impressive unbeaten partnership of 135 runs in a record chase of 384 runs to keep their team in the hunt to chase down the total against the mighty England bowlers. The experience of the Aussies batter will come in handy for their team to win the championship after 22 long years.
Speaking on Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Nasser Hussain feels that England still has a good chance to win the game against Australia despite their impressive start in the 2nd innings as the fifth day usually offers assistance to the spinners.
Besides, he highlighted the fact that Aussies have five left-handers in the team which England spinner Moeen Ali can exploit on the final day and asserted that any result is a possibility on the final day of the series.
“My feeling is that England is still slight favourites, even after Australia’s start. The pitch is spinning and a day-five Oval pitch does turn. Hopefully, the rain has given Moeen Ali a bit more time to get better.
“Australia have two left-handers in at the moment and then Alex Carey, Travis Head, and Mitchell Starc. Off-spinners like left-handers. It is set up perfectly. The last day of a magnificent series and we still don’t know if it is going to be 2-1, 2-2, or 3-1,” Nasser Hussain said.
Australia has retained the Urn after drawing the fourth Test in Manchester due to rain playing spoilsport in the last two days. The rain became a defining moment in the series in England, as the Australian team was very lucky to have the game washed due to the rain in England as the away team is completely outplayed in the first three days of the 4th test.
I Think Ben Stokes Could Have Gone Earlier With Mark Wood – Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain questioned England skipper Ben Stokes’s decision on the usage of their star pacer Mark Wood in the early part of the innings and asserted that Speedster bowling keeps the crowds alive in the game, as it looked like the people were waiting for Wood to bowl just before the rain.
“I think Stokes could have gone earlier with Wood, When the rain comes the reverse disappears. Also, just to lift the crowd. They were roused this morning with the Stuart Broad factor, but with the Khawaja-Warner partnership, the atmosphere dwindled. When Wood started warming up, you could sense the crowd’s anticipation; this is what they’ve been waiting for,” Nasser Hussain added.
England will look to put their performance on Day 4 behind, as they will try to come up with a few new strategies on the final day of the jackpot game to draw the series 2-2 on their home soil.