Ben Stokes

A disappointed Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne of Australia after being denied the wicket of Ben Stokes of England on review during day three of the forth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the SCG, Sydney, Australia, 07 January 2022. Photo: EPA/DEAN LEWINS

Watch: Stokes gets Ashes let-off as ball incredibly rebounds off stumps

Ben Stokes was the recipient of a slice of good luck during day three of the Fourth Ashes Test at the SCG in Australia.

Ben Stokes

A disappointed Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne of Australia after being denied the wicket of Ben Stokes of England on review during day three of the forth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the SCG, Sydney, Australia, 07 January 2022. Photo: EPA/DEAN LEWINS

England allrounder Ben Stokes was the recipient of a slice of good luck during day three of the Fourth Ashes Test in Australia.

With most of the top order already in the hut, Stokes should have been the fifth man out when he shouldered arms to Cameron Green.

Green appealed for leg before wicket thinking that the ball had rebounded off the pads of Stokes only to find on the replay that the ball had deflected off the stumps.

Despite bowling at some pace, the delivery from Green would not dislodge the bails.

Watch: Ben Stokes gets lucky

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Stokes took this stroke of fortune as a signal to cut loose and his quick-fire half-century enabled England to mount something of a fightback on the third day.

Eventually, Stokes fell victim to Nathan Lyon, who trapped him leg before for 66 off 91 balls.

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Jonny Bairstow continued the fight for England, going on to record the first century for his team in the Ashes Test series.

By stumps, Bairstow had reached 103 not out with England 258 for 7 still 158 runs behind.

Bairstow and Stokes both showed tremendous guts, playing through the pain of injury to salvage some pride for the chastened Three Lions.

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Speaking after play, Bairstow said: “I am extremely proud. It’s been tough, you’ve got to dig deep, I’m sure you guys and everyone else will have mentioned the scheduling and how much red-ball cricket people are playing leading into massive series like this – and it’s not just this series.

“You’ve got to delve very, very deep into stuff that you’ve worked on over a number of years. Your technique changes over those years and you’ve got to pick parts of it and sometimes go back to bits you looked at a couple of years ago – and that’s exactly what I did this morning.

“I tried not to be too rigid. You can look at technique a lot and some things work but other times you’ve got to be natural about the way that you’re moving otherwise you become a bit clunky and too rigid

“That’s where I felt I’d got to, I was trying to be something that, potentially, I’m not. One of my strengths is putting the pressure back on bowlers and running between the wickets. That also comes with spending time out in the middle.”