Burns edging a ball he could have left on length, and Jason Roy clean bowled by Cummins. Root, coming off
two consecutive ducks, was millimetres away from a third when he almost edged his second ball. The die
appeared to have been cast, the only real point of contention whether a hapless England could extend the
match into a fourth day.
But with a little good fortune, and initially scoring almost exclusively off thick edges, Root survived. He
won an early duel with Nathan Lyon, and by the time tea came and went was seeing the ball a little bigger,
content to play it a fraction later.
Denly, meanwhile, had clearly bathed in holy water before his knock. Truly, you never saw a more
hazardous Test fifty: off the mark with a fortuitous deflection for four that he knew nothing about, smacked
on the helmet by Cummins, gloving the ball over the slips, numerous slashes and misses, numerous tight
LBW appeals, numerous uncontrolled fends that looped just out of the reach of fielders. Occasionally, he
would work the ball pleasantly square of the wicket. One clout back over Nathan Lyon’s head felt
particularly cathartic.
As the crowd began to find their voice, and the odd misfield began to creep in, Tim Paine opted for
enforcement. Cummins returned to give Denly some chin music, but he survived that too, reaching his half-
century and earning a standing ovation from a crowd who, as Headingley Saturday crowds are wont to do,
had been drinking since roughly sunrise. In a way, you felt for them: now they would have to go home and
tell their loved ones that they saw Joe Denly score an Ashes fifty, and nobody would believe them.
But then he got stuck. More than half an hour and several more close shaves passed before he finally gloved
one behind off Hazlewood. But over almost four hours, he had played his longest Test innings, shared a
partnership of 126 with Root, and given England a fingernail in the game.
Stumps approached. The odd ball was beginning to keep low, the odd one flying through. Lyon managed to
find some turn. But with fierce concentration and a watchful eye on their off-stumps, Root and Stokes saw
out the danger. “New ball in the morning,” Paine reminded his troops as the day wound to a close. Outside
the ground, meanwhile, the Australian fans were prepared to be even more bullish. One of them was asked
by a local if he was beginning to get a bit worried. “Nah, f--- that,” he replied.