"Would be great to lose few overs here and there...," says Australia's Hazlewood as team's Ashes lead is at stake

Manchester [UK], July 22 (ANI): With Australia's Ashes 2023 lead under threat, pacer Josh Hazlewood admitted that he would be pleased if rain gods would intervene and lend a helping hand to struggling Aussies in the form of a drawn match. 
England ended Day 3 on a strong note as Mark Wood dominated the entire final session to take the hosts one step closer to levelling the series on Friday at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground. 
Though Australia leads the Ashes by 2-1, they are just six wickets away from losing the match by an innings as they still have 162 out of England's 275 runs worth of lead yet to be made. If they lose, the series will be level at 2-2 and Australia will be under risk of losing the Ashes series. The visitors are aiming to clinch their first Ashes in England since 2001. 
With England bowlers, especially Mark Wood looking lethal, Australia is praying that a large chunk of remaining two days is washed away by rain. The forecast also predicts some rain and Australia is not hiding at all that they would like some assistance from rain. 
"I would be very pleased (if rain will help in a draw). It is obviously forecast but forecasts can change all the time. Obviously, rain and light plays a big part in cricket and has done forever. So, yeah, it would be great to lose a few overs here and there, and make our job a little easier if I am hanging in there," said Hazlewood as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. 
The forecast for Saturday in particular looks absolutely bleak, with some uncertainity over Sunday's final day as well. It could be very well possible that England gets a narrow window to win the match and keep the Ashes alive. 
Jonny Bairstow's unbeaten 99 along with fifties from Harry Brook and Ben Stokes troubled Australia on day three. Hazlewood, along with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc went for a combined 392 runs at 5.22 runs per over. The world's most feared pace trio had hit an unfortunate century each with the ball. It was only for the second time that these three conceeded hundred runs in a single innings. 
Hazlewood however said that such experiences are not new to them. 
"I imagine a few games against India on some flat wickets we have gone the journey as well. So it is nothing too new for us, I guess [it] was probably just the run rate," Hazlewood said.
"It was a pretty special knock from Zak [Crawley] and…obviously Jonny and Rooty (Joe Root) as well. Definitely, we could have been better in patches throughout the innings and with a bit of luck we might have, but that is not the case. So we will have a look at that and learn from it again," he added. 
Coming to the match, Australia ended their day at 113/4, with Marnus Labuschagne (44*) and Mitchell Marsh (1*) unbeaten. They trail England by 162 runs. 
Earlier, in reply to Australia's 317 in first innings, England had scored 592 runs in their first innings. 
Australia became victim of some heavy hitting from host's top seven batters. Zak Crawley (189 in 182 balls, with 21 fours and three sixes) led the attack with his maiden Ashes ton. Moeen Ali (54 in 82 balls, with seven fours), Joe Root (84 in 95 balls with eight fours and a six), Harry Brook (61 in 100 balls, with five fours), skipper Ben Stokes (51 in 74 balls with five fours) and Jonny Bairstow (99* in 81 balls with 10 fours and four sixes) played impactful knocks. 
Besides Hazlewood's fifer, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green took two wickets each while Pat Cummins got one. 
After opting to field first, England bundled out Australia for 317 in the first innings.
Marnus Labuschagne (51), Mitchell Marsh (51), Steve Smith (41), Travis Head (48) and Mitchell Starc (36) played some vital knocks for Aussies. 
Chris Woakes (5/62), Stuart Broad (2/68) and James Anderson (1/51) impressed with the ball for England. (ANI)