The Final Word Ashes Podcast: Listen to Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins talk on narrow possibility of an English miracle

Captain Joe Root carried England’s hopes of keeping the Ashes alive on Saturday, digging deep in pursuit of a record fourth-innings chase on Day 3 of the third test against Australia at Headingley. Australia set a tough victory target of 359 — 27 runs more than any England side has managed — and reduced the hosts to 15-2, seemingly reopening the fault lines that saw the home team skittled out for a paltry 67 on Friday. Root showed steel, determination and leadership that has been lacking in England’s batsmen by sharing a third-wicket stand of 126 with Joe Denly (50) and reaching stumps unbeaten on 75. England was 156-3, still needing 203 more runs to win. Australia leads the five-match series 1-0 and will retain the Ashes if it goes 2-0 ahead with two tests remaining. In the Ashes Daily, Australian journalists Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins are following the action all around England and Wales. Their long weekly podcast The Final Word has been going for five years. Every day, The Final Word will team up with Firstpost to bring you a new episode from wherever Geoff and Adam are on the road. On trains and buses, in pubs, on the street, in parks, on barges floating down rivers, and anywhere else that they might end up. They are also watching an awful lot of cricket, and can summarise all the matches that you didn’t have time to see, or can bring you into the discussion about the ones you did watch. So tune in to enjoy the coverage of one of the oldest rivalries in the history of cricket. With AP inputs