JACK LEACHER
The Ashes: Jack Leach polishes his glasses and hits only ONE run but is England hero with Ben Stokes
BEN STOKES staged a heroic one man stand to lead England to a historic Ashes comeback - and Jack Leach sat back, polished his glasses and shared the spoils.
After Leach's heroic 92 against Ireland earlier in the summer, he became famous for slogging it out with his glasses on and he did the same today.
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Leach got a solitary run from the 17 balls he faced and he was overcome by the special talent of his last stand batting partner.
England won by a wicket finishing at 362/9 after their embarrassing first innings total of 67.
An inspired Stokes smashed an outstanding 135 off 219 balls to tie the series 1-1 in a victory that will go down as one of the greatest of all time.
After the win, Leach said: "I had to make sure my glasses were clean.
"I know I look stupid when I am out there but it got the job job done."
The atmosphere was electric in Yorkshire and the noise was ear splitting when Stokes swept away the winning shot for four.
But Stokes admitted after the third Test victory that he was too scared to watch partner Leach bat.
The England hero told BBC Sport: " It hasn't quite sunk in, I know we've won the game but I'm pretty tired. A great day.
"We came in to the day with a chance but it's never over until it's over.
“At nine down with 70 left it was obvious what was to be done. I only got nervous when we were down below 10 needed but I had my pitching wedge at a perfect length.
"I couldn't look when Jack Leach was batting. I was just waiting for the reaction of the crowd! It's amazing.
"The pressure Jack was under, he faced a crucial 15-odd balls. Leachy had to stay in there - he's got some serious balls."
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Joe Root racked up a respectable 77 to give England hope while Joe Denly chipped in with a 50.
But the stage was set for World Cup hero Stokes who stepped up to the plate and wrote his name forever in the Ashes history books.
The last time a team won a match after a first innings score of less than 70 was 131 years ago.
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