IN FOR ESCAPE
Supreme effort by two Joes
AUSTRALIA
IT was once reported in the strange propaganda-obsessed state of North Korea that Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader, had recorded 11 holes in one during a single round of golf.
On fancy dress Saturday at the Third Test, a pair of spectators watched on in the West Stand in North Korean military uniform witnessing phase one of something almost as unlikely.
Shane Warne, on commentary duties in Leeds, was so confident Australia were home and dry yesterday morning that he checked out of his hotel.
He checked back in last night with Headingley threatening a Test to rival Botham’s Ashes and The Miracle of 1981.
Having lost 12 wickets in the match for just 82 runs and staring humiliation in the face, England clawed their way back from the precipice with a steel-spined display of resolve.
White-knuckle
Each milestone brought a louder and louder response.
First Joe Root’s half-century then Joe Denly’s with their hundred partnership sandwiched in between.
Root’s 50 took 120 balls, Denly’s 134 but that was just what the situation demanded.
It was a white-knuckle ride in super slow-motion.
Their first innings hit man Josh Hazlewood subjected Root to a volley of abuse mid-pitch in the evening session after beating him twice on the outside. Root replied with a cherubic smile.
England, with judgement and luck, kept the Baggy Greens at bay until finally at 6.11pm, four hours and 14 minutes since he walked out to bat, Denly’s stoic resistance came to an end.
To reach the close with seven wickets left and their captain still at the crease had been a phenomenal effort.
If the rest of the England side can replicate this fight they have a chance yet to square the series.
A zany upside-down Test match could yet have an outcome straight out of Pyongyang’s Public Information Department.