Labuschagne 80 sets England 359-run target

Marnus Labuschagne compiled put on a half-century stand with James Pattinson for the seventh wicket © Getty

Australia frustrated England in the opening session of the third day in Leeds taking their lead over 350 runs, before they were bowled out to set England a target of 359 on Saturday (August 24). England's openers, in response, saw through the four overs in the session to go to Lunch on 11 for no loss.

It was as frustrating a morning as it could get for England, who needed to step up with their A-game if they were to make any sort of comeback in the third Ashes Test in a bid to keep the series alive. But nothing went England's way for most of the session. After Australia ended Day 2 in a position of strength with a lead of 283, Marnus Labuschagne led the way with a well-made 80, and with the Australian tail, added 75 runs to keep England at bay.

There were fumbles in the field, overthrows and run-out chances missed. Labuschagne was handed yet another life after being spilled behind the stumps. What should've been a straightforward slip-catch was interrupted by Jonny Bairstow, who went for it but couldn't hold on. And to add to their woes, Australia's runs came at a good pace as Australia took their lead past the 300-run mark quite early with James Pattinson and Labuschagne adding fifty for the seventh wicket.

There was quite a bit of uneven bounce, but the Australian batsmen tackled it well. Jofra Archer, who didn't bowl too much last evening with cramps in his left thigh, provided England the break they were looking for as Joe Root picked up his 100th Test catch with Pattinson having edged to slip. He then struck Labuschagne flush on the grill, like he did at Lord's, as the batsman fell to the ground as Archer upped his speed. The batsman responded with some clever use of the pace and bounce to ramp it over slips for a boundary.

Ben Stokes was in the middle of another marathon spell when he was rewarded with Cummins's wicket off a bouncer. Two overs later, Labuschagne was run-out for 80, and England were close to the end with Archer dealing the batsmen repeated blows. He wrapped up proceedings after breaching Nathan Lyon's defence as Australia were knocked over for 246.

Brief scores: Australia 179 & 246 (Marnus Labuschagne 80; Ben Stokes 3-56) lead England 67 & 11/0 (Josh Hazlewood 5-30) by 348 runs.