Oval pitch takes turn on Day 5, England can still win the match: Nasser Hussain

London: Former England captain Nasser Hussain has said that the hosts are still favorites to win the fifth and deciding Ashes 2023 Test against Australia as the pitch will turn on the fifth day at The Oval allowing Ben Stokes to level the series 2-2. Will help for. Australia ended the fourth day at 135 for no loss after heavy rain in London on Sunday forced the umpires to declare stumps early on the fourth day. Australia are still 249 runs away from winning the Ashes 3-1 and England need 10 wickets to level the series.

Hussain told, ‘ I think England are still favorites even after Australia’s good start. The pitch is rolling. The Oval pitch takes a turn on the fifth day. He further added that rain has given Moeen Ali some extra time to recover from a groin injury, indicating that the off-spinner’s recovery could play a crucial role on the final day of the series. Hussain said, “Hopefully the rain has given Moeen Ali a little more time to recover from the groin strain and Joe Root is a very useful off-spinner.”

Last day of a great series and we still don’t know if it will be 2-1, 2-2 or 3-1. The 55-year-old Nasser Hussain also expressed concern over the decision to bar Mark Wood from joining the bowling attack until the 33rd over, when Australia were 99-0. He said that I think Stokes could have gone first with Wood. After England were all-out in the first two overs of the day, Australia openers Usman Khawaja (69) and David Warner (58) shared an unbeaten 135-run stand. With this, a solid base was laid to chase down the big target of 384 runs.