Ben Stokes' latest act of defiance and a spirited performance from England's bowlers left the third Ashes Test evenly poised after two days.

Just five days after scoring a heroic 155 in a losing effort at Lord's, Stokes once again dug deep to give his team hope with a powerful 80 at Headingley.

Despite batting through clear physical pain, he pulled the trigger on five sixes and six boundaries, dragging England back from 87 for five to post 237 all out during a frantic afternoon session.

This kept the first-innings deficit to a manageable 26 runs. Australia's top order struggled, and the tourists were 116 for four at stumps, giving them a lead of 142.

The England attack was depleted by two, with Stokes clearly unfit to bowl and Ollie Robinson reduced to a spectator’s role by back spasms, but showed huge heart to keep the game, and the series, alive.

Stuart Broad continued his long-standing dominance over David Warner, while Moeen Ali induced errors from Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith.

Speaking after the match, Ali said he had had “good fun” being asked to bowl 17 overs in the absence of Robinson.

He said: “When Robbo had a spasm in his back I knew I’d be bowling a fair bit. It was nice, I really enjoyed it, and enjoyed the fields set. It was good fun. The body is surprisingly good.

“Little bit sore. I’ll be stiff tomorrow, my shoulder will be stiff, but the body’s been good in the Edgbaston Test and this one so far.”

Moeen said skipper Stokes had helped drag England back into the match after they had slipped to 87 for five.

He added: “I thought actually we were struggling at one point obviously with the bat and then Stokesy played an amazing innings again and just put us in a position where we’ve got a great chance, 30 runs behind whatever it was, was not too bad.”

Stokes was battling through the pain to keep the game alive, moving gingerly as new injuries compounded his existing knee problems.

He admitted at the pre-match press conference that his century on Sunday took “quite a bit out of me” and it was evident.

He moved awkwardly and winced frequently, but he persevered during a watchful partnership of 44 with Moeen.

Moeen said England were still in the hunt to reduce the deficit in the series to 2-1 and all eyes will now turn to Saturday morning's crucial session.