Joe Root urges England to use Headingley success as inspiration ahead of Ashes tilt

NICK HOWSON AT HEADINGLEY: The one-wicket win in Leeds could be a major factor ahead of the final two Tests of the series at Old Trafford and The Oval

Joe Root believes the dramatic third Test win at Headingley will galvanise his England team ahead of the remainder of the Ashes series against Australia.

The hosts squared the series at 1-1 with two matches to play after a remarkable one-wicket win in Leeds thanks to Ben Stokes' unbeaten 135.

England still needed 73 runs to chase down their highest fourth-innings score to win a Test of 359 when No.11 Jack Leach joined Stokes in the middle.

Australia butchered several chances to win the game, with dropped catches and a missed run-out giving the home side hope they could pull off a miraculous win amid Stokes' brilliant innings.

The series now heads to Old Trafford, a game which starts on September 4 and Root believes the momentum gathered from this win could be critical.

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"A huge amount of belief," the skipper said of the success, which came after England were bowled out for 67 in their first innings on day two. "We always feel like we should never give up. The World Cup was a great example of that. Coming into this series shows that it is so important to have faith and believe in each other. 

"To be able to enjoy this win is very special. It holds a lot of weight going into the next two games. Momentum can be an important thing in series so hopefully, we can ride that in Old Trafford and make sure we play in the manner in which we played in the second innings, and not the first."

Stokes repeated his heroics from the World Cup final when an unbeaten 84 and runs in the super over against New Zealand delivered the nation's first-ever 50-over global title.

And though Root revealed the 28-year-old is fallible in at least one area - he has poor handwriting - he was lost for words when asked to describe his latest herculean effort.

"He is a bit of a freak," added Root. "To be able to time and time again proud match-winning performances like that. He had an incredible Test match on a personal front, having potentially been one run away from being out of it."

^{The Headingley crowd was England's "12th man" according to Joe Root}

Much like the World Cup final six weeks ago which was watched by a TV audience estimated at 8.7 million, the country was once-again captivated by top tier international cricket.

The ECB have spoken about this summer as being key to their strategy to grow the game and while time will only tell whether that prophecy is fulfilled Root is thrilled by the fresh attention the sport is garnering.

"Games like that will change people's perception of cricket, for sure," the Yorkshireman gleamed. "The World Cup did that in many ways and this will as well in terms of Test cricket. It is a great advert for the game. A great advert for this format. And Ashes cricket as well. 

"We felt like we had 12 men for the majority of this game. We have the best fans in the world. This game, in particular, has been electric. It has made a huge difference to the group and I am sure Old Trafford will not disappoint. 

"It is great to see people enjoying the sport. It is great to see cricket grabbing the headlines. And it is great to see England win."