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England all-rounder Chris Woakes has urged his teammates to finish the job at Headingley and not depend on 'superhuman' Ben Stokes. Chasing a target of 251 runs, England openers combined for an unbeaten stand of 27 runs before the end of Day 3 on Saturday (July 8), leaving just 224 runs to chase down on Sunday.
With 10 wickets in hand, the Three Lions are currently the favourites to win the Headingley Test. Australia would try and stage a comeback with a flurry of wickets and the hosts would look to play their counter-attacking brand of cricket to neutralise whatever threat the Baggy Greens' bowlers pose.
Woakes has urged all 11 players in the team to put their hand up if their number is called and take the team to the promised land.
"It would be nice to do it a little bit easier. We don't want to be reliant on Ben all the time," Woakes said. "Although we do realise he's (Stokes) superhuman, he can't do it every time," Woakes said.
"Across the board, from 1 to 11, we've got to put a good shift in and try and get us over the line. It's an opportunity to do something special. There is more excitement than nerves. We are excited at the thought of chasing down a score, winning the Test and keeping ourselves in the series," he added.
Ben Stokes' side is desperate for a win as they ended up losing the first two matches of the series. A defeat at Headingley would spell doom for the Three Lions as Pat Cummins' men will then take an unassailable lead in the five-match series.
Having said that, England would be low-key confident of completing the task at hand on Sunday and staging a comeback into the series.
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