Marnus Labuschagne’s first century of the Ashes has given Australia the chance to wrest back momentum for the series finale at The Oval, regardless of the result at Old Trafford.
Australia will enter the last day in Manchester knowing the best they can do is draw the match, after copping the full brunt of an England onslaught earlier in the match.
A stalemate on Sunday would keep Australia 2-1 up in the series and ensure they retain the Ashes, but the tourists have long stated they are in England to win the series and not draw it.
It means this Ashes series will now have a fitting finale at The Oval from Thursday, as Australia push for their first Test series victory on English soil since 2001.
On paper, Saturday was a neutral day at Old Trafford after rain washed out both the first and last sessions.
England edged closer to victory with the key wicket of Labuschagne, but Australia managed to whittle down the deficit to 61 by finishing at 5-214.
But beyond all that, Australia may have landed an even more crucial blow after days of being put on the back foot by England.
Labuschagne, who entered the series as the world’s No.1-ranked Test batsman, found his groove again with a near-chanceless 111.
And it has the potential to be series-defining for both sides at The Oval.
“I do feel like my series with my batting has built,” Labuschagne said.
‘From Edgbaston, where it was a bit of a rabble, then to Lord’s, to Headingley, to today.
“It’s trending in the right direction, but you’ve just got to make sure you keep sticking to the process.
“I felt like it was all sort of coming together. It was nice to at least get a bit of a bigger score today.”
Labuschagne had indicated after a first-innings 51 at Manchester that he had finally found his sweet spot in this series, after making several technical changes.
That showed on Saturday, as the rash shots and pushes outside off stump that had plagued his tour disappeared and he looked a far more settled batsman.
Labuschagne’s quirkiness also shone through when he asked to inspect a fresh ball after the original one was replaced for being out of shape.
The request clearly frustrated England captain Ben Stokes, but also showed the attention to detail that makes Labuschagne so successful when in his zone.
“If you look at the ball once, you can pretty much tell straight away what it’s going to do,” Labuschagne said.
“I looked at the ball and I was like, ‘well, this is going to swing’.
“They were obviously not very happy with (me doing) that.
“It’s just being meticulous. I mean, it was pretty common sense. Like, why would I not want to have a look at the ball?”
