The Edgbaston Test is delicately poised after heavy rain forced a premature end to day three of the absorbing Ashes opener in Birmingham.

Australia was bowled out for 386 after a frantic collapse of 4-14 on Sunday morning, giving England a narrow seven-run lead in the first innings.

In response, the hosts are 2-28 after Australia’s quicks knocked over both of England’s openers in an entertaining assault.

DAY 3 WRAP: Aussies edge ahead after double blow in 20-minute Ashes mayhem

‘IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE THAT’: England star doubles down after backlash over fiery ‘f***ing pr**k’ send-off

TWENTY MINUTES OF CHAOS PUTS TEST ON KNIFE EDGE

In the dark clouds and under the fully illuminated lights, Australia punched back.

After being dismissed for 386, just seven runs shy of England’s first innings, Australia was on the back foot in the second session before the first rain delay interrupted play.

Australian captain Pat Cummins started with the same defensive field as he did in the first innings; a deep point and a deep square-leg deployed from the first ball of the innings.

Cummins and Josh Hazlewood failed to apply any pressure to the England openers, spraying on both sides of the wicket and allowing easy singles to be picked off at will.

England was 0-26 when the heavens opened for the first time. Only one boundary scored, but plenty of real estate for England to tick over the scoreboard and build a lead.

But there was a brief 20-minute window after the break where Australia’s vaunted fast bowling attack got to work and made the most of the conditions on offer.

Australia took 2-2 in 22 balls to swing the balance of the first Test back onto a knife’s edge.

Ben Duckett, who has become famous for refusing to leave the ball, was dismissed in similar fashion to the first innings, fishing outside the line — only this time, he was caught by a spectacular diving catch from Cameron Green in the gully.

“That’s what happens if you don’t leave balls outside off stump,” SEN commentator Daniel Norcross said.

Australia took 38 overs to bowl a maiden in the first innings. They only bowled two maiden overs for the innings as England plundered runs everywhere. But the cloudy skies, relentless bowling and some assistance from the swinging Dukes ball allowed Australia to bowl back-to-back wicket maidens in the ninth and tenth overs of the innings.

Zak Crawley followed Duckett back to the pavilion the following over in an almost identical dismissal to his first-innings downfall, with Scott Boland beating the bat and kissing the outside edge into the safe hands of Alex Carey.

The BBC later reported that “the real Australia have arrived”.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said: “That is the Australian team I have known for all of the time I have been watching Test cricket.

“In that first period before the rain, Australia were terrible … since Australia came back out it has been a different mindset, different fields.

“There has been help with the conditions, and the ball started to move, but it is just the mindset.

“Australia have said to the batters ‘we are here to get you out, not just spread the fields and let you knock it around’.”

Another former England captain, Michael Atherton, said on Sky Sports that Cummins saw Australia’s opportunity finally open with the ball and he pounced.

“The beauty of the game is that you have to adapt accordingly as the conditions change and Pat Cummins was very quick there, he recognised it,” he said.

“He obviously got the ball in his hands and he could sense it. Suddenly, in comes the field, in come the catchers and it is a very different game.”

Meanwhile, according to CricViz, Crawley has now been dismissed 28 times while playing a defensive shot in his Test career. Despite being backed by England to be one part of the opening partnership in the new regime, Crawley now, almost unwillingly, sits with a host of tailenders among this statistic since 2006.

With the Edgbaston surface coming under fire for being slow, flat and contriving a form of cricket that is on brand with the way this England team desire to play, the 20-minute session in between the two rain delays was one reminiscent of the tough conditions that Test cricket in the UK is known for.

The combination of overhead conditions and some assistance through the air off the surface, gave Australia exactly what they were after as they punched their way back.

‘BRILLIANT’: PROOF ENGLAND SKIPPER IS A GENIUS

England skipper Ben Stokes has been hailed for his creative and unusual captaincy since taking over the role last year, and the Durham all-rounder’s innovative leadership was once again evident on day three of the Edgbaston Test.

Australia was seemingly on track for a first-innings lead on Sunday morning after centurion Usman Khawaja and captain Pat Cummins combined for a 34-run partnership for the seventh wicket.

Khawaja looked immovable at the crease, forcing Stokes to experiment.

In the 113th over, he brought in three catching covers and three catching mid-wicket fielders, creating a reverse umbrella field for the Australian opener. The six fielders formed a semi-circle around the pitch, baffling former England batter Kevin Pietersen in the commentary box.

“Have you ever seen a field like that?” he laughed on Sky Sports.

“I haven’t.”

But there was method to the madness.

Khawaja, who had scored six runs from his previous 34 deliveries, eyed the vacancies at deep cover and charged down the pitch at Ollie Robinson’s next delivery — but the left-hander yorked himself, bowled for 141 to end his eight-hour marathon.

“The plan has worked,” former England captain Eoin Morgan said in commentary.

“Excellent captaincy from Ben Stokes … making something happen when there’s nothing happening in the game.

“Brilliant from Stokes.”

Khawaja’s dismissal sparked a frantic collapse of 4-14, with Robinson and Stuart Broad running through Australia’s tail to ensure England clinched a narrow first-innings lead — and Stokes was largely to thank.

ENGLAND’S ‘DEVASTATING’ SETBACK AFTER ‘ROLLING THE DICE’

A minor injury setback for Moeen Ali has created a fresh headache for England, with his lack of first-class cricket a glaring concern on day three of the Edgbaston Test.

The off-spinner, who bowled 33 overs in Australia’s first innings, is at risk of missing the second Ashes Test at Lord’s after suffering a blister on his spinning finger, potentially from friction when bowling with the new Dukes ball. He was fined 25 per cent of his match fee after applying a drying agent to his bowling hand near the boundary rope on Saturday afternoon.

Ali left the field to receive treatment after bowling four overs on Sunday morning, with England’s coaching staff grimacing when he showed them the wound while entering the changing room.

“If you do get a finger cut exactly where he did, unfortunately it can be devastating for your spinning,” former Test spinner Steve O’Keefe said on Channel 9.

“Support staff looked very, very disappointed … he looks a little bit upset about it.

“Look at that, it looks a bit sore.”

Former Australian captain Aaron Finch continued: “That has to hurt … to be able to get a grip on the ball will be really difficult and painful.

“Joe Root will have to bowl a lot of overs in the second innings.”

Ali was added to England’s Ashes squad at the eleventh hour, replacing incumbent Test spinner Jack Leach, who was ruled out of the series with a lower back stress fracture.

The 36-year-old, who had not played a first-class match since August 2021, was plying his trade with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League ahead of the Ashes, bowling four-over spells in the T20 tournament.

Ali did not play any warm-up matches ahead of the Ashes, with England favouring a relaxed Ashes build-up that featured a golf tour.

“We’ve got to remember Moeen Ali is fresh coming off playing IPL cricket, and not bowling a lot of overs per game, so it’s a big ask to come in and bowl 30-plus overs,” O’Keefe continued.

“What does this say about the English County system when you’re rolling the dice with a player like this to come in and play Test cricket?

“Where does England go to next?”

AUSSIE TAIL FLOPS AGAIN

England’s new Bazball approach to Test cricket is infectious.

Their hunger for runs goes all the way down their batting order, with their bowlers more often than not getting in on the run-scoring act; entertaining the crowd with the ability to land a big blow.

As England rollicked their way to 8-393 declared in their first innings, ably led by Joe Root’s unbeaten century, but it was the contributions from the tailenders that could prove pivotal in deciding the outcome of the series.

Moeen Ali (18), Stuart Broad (16) and Ollie Robinson (17*) added 51 runs in the lower order batting with Root. While not big numbers individually, they combined for 96 runs for the final two wickets before England’s declaration.

Meanwhile, Australia’s tail lost 4-14 to be bowled out just seven runs shy of England’s first innings total, thanks largely to skipper Pat Cummins (38 runs) — Nathan Lyon (1), Scott Boland (0) & Josh Hazlewood (1*) making up the other contributions.

Runs from the tail have been an increasing concern for Australia, who have largely failed to record a score of substance since their previous trip to the UK in 2019.

Since the 2019 Ashes, Australia’s lower order have combined for a total of just four individual scores of 40 plus. England has had 14.

Since the start of the most recent home summer, Australia’s bowlers (with the exception of the recent draw in Ahmedabad on a similarly docile pitch) have only mustered a score of over ten twice.

It begs the question, while Australia ultimately made the decision to omit Mitchell Starc for this Test match, his ability with the bat might have hindered Australia’s chance at posting a substantial first innings total — particularly in the face of Bazball.

Starc, while only called upon once during the previous series to England, contributed two unbeaten scores (54* and 3*) and has enjoyed relative success in the UK with bat in hand, scoring 364 runs at an average of 28 from 18 innings.

Starc made important contributions with the bat in the 2021/22 Ashes triumph at home, with scores of 35, 39*, 24* and 34* in the opening four Tests, further enhancing his ability against the England seam attack.