Ashes 2023: England win by three wickets to make the series 2-1
LEEDS, England: England secured another memorable Ashes victory at Headingley after Harry Brook helped to set up a three-wicket win over Australia in the third Test on Sunday to keep the five-match series alive.
Brook and Chris Woakes had shared a match-changing 59-run partnership for the seventh wicket on the fourth day before Brook was caught off Mitchell Starc to make it an increasingly tense finish. England was then at 230-7 in its second innings with a target of 251.
Playing his 10th Test match, Brook scored 75 off 93 balls with nine fours. He batted with maturity and appeared ready to carry the burden all the way to the final stretch before passing it over to Woakes and Mark Wood (16 not out), who both made an emphatic first impression on their belated introductions to the series.
Woakes hit the winning boundary late in the afternoon session against Starc as England finished on 254-7. Woakes crunched the ball toward the delirious Western Terrace to finish unbeaten on 32.
Australia leads 2-1 with the fourth test at Old Trafford starting on July 19.
By lunch, England had moved to 153-4 and within 98 runs of its target, four years on from a famous Ben Stokes-inspired victory at the same venue.
But the match swung Australia's way early after lunch when England captain Stokes was caught behind for only 13 and Jonny Bairstow (5) was bowled — both against Starc, who finished with 5-78.
Stokes' dismissal was a soft nick down the leg-side robbing the hosts of their inspirational captain and the architect of their 2019 Ashes miracle.
Earlier, England's openers resumed in cautious mood at 27 without loss, adding 15 careful runs to the score before Ben Duckett (23) was trapped in the crease by Starc, lbw to a ball destined for leg stump.
Moeen Ali was the man to replace Duckett at No. 3, a surprise switch with Brook and a hefty promotion from No. 7. The all-rounder has done the job before, but last appeared this high in November 2018.
It was a typically bold gambit from the Brendon McCullum regime but one that did not pay off for Ali though it did allow Brook to bat at No. 5. Ali made five from 15 deliveries and had no answer for a 90 mph rocket from Starc, forcing its way through a modest drive and pounding the stumps.
Brook's stand of 38 with Root was beginning to give the chase a sense of security, but the latter was undone unexpectedly with the lunch break in sight. Swiveling into a pull as the returning Pat Cummins dragged one down, Root gloved it through to the keeper for a tame ending on 21.
Zak Crawley's growing confidence cost him his wicket on 44, throwing himself into a drive off Mitch Marsh and feeding the edge through to Alex Carey. At 93-3, both teams were moving toward their destinations.
England has chased down four bigger totals in the "Bazball" era, including 296 at the same ground last year, but in keeping their hopes of reclaiming the urn afloat this is likely its most satisfying pursuit yet. After squandering promising positions at Edgbaston and Lord's, England are finally on the board and will take renewed belief into the remaining clashes at Old Trafford and the Oval.
The last 12 runs came in a frenzy, short balls flicked and pulled in all directions and Carey — whose controversial stumping of Bairstow at Lord's added an edge in the run-up to this test — delighting the crowd with a late drop. But the final moment was all class, Woakes flaying Starc for four in a rousing win and the latest twist in a superb Ashes series that deservedly stayed alive.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
