Australia piled on the misery for England and asserted their dominance on Day 4 of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide, inching closer to another victory that would help them gain a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
The hosts stretched their lead to a mammoth 468 in the penultimate afternoon before building inroads into the England batting unit, with four wickets, including the opposition’s best batter Joe Root, sent back to the pavilion by the close of play.
England, who were dismissed for 236 on Day 3 in response to Australia’s 473/9 in the first-innings, lost their opener Haseeb Hameed without him opening his account, before Rory Burns and Dawid Malan steadied the ship somewhat. But just when Malan was getting into rhythm, he was out LBW by pacer Michael Neser for 20 off 52 balls.
Burns, having struggled in his three previous innings of the tour, played out the new ball watchfully and batted with nice composure for his 95-ball 34. But then got out caught through the slips against the young impressive Jhye Richardson.
That wicket left the onus on senior men Root and Ben Stokes to play through the rest of the final session. Root, once again, looked in his element at the crease, playing out 66 balls for 24 despite battling some abdomen pain. But on the 67th, he nicked out to left-arm quick Mitchell Starc in the final over of the day’s play.
Root’s wicket pushed England on the brink of a defeat with only 82 runs on the board at the loss of 4 wickets, still chasing another 386 runs and more realistically, needing to bat the full day’s play on Monday to save the Test match.
Earlier in the day, Australia began precariously with the bat, losing opener Marcus Harris (23) and nightwatchman Neser (3). The hosts, though, recovered soon as Marnus Labuschagne continued his great form with a fine half-century (56). Last game’s centurion Travis Head (51) made a fifty, too, while young allrounder Cameron Green added a freeflowing 33 as his team looked to declare early. Australia eventually ended their third-innings with an addition of 230 runs to their lead at the cost of nine wickets.
Veterans James Anderson (1/8), Stuart Broad (1/27) and pacer Ollie Robinson (2/54) bowled with good control. But recognising the situation, England used their part-time spin options to keep the three quicks fresh for the series ahead. This meant that, with Australians on the attack and taking risks, Root (2/27) and Malan (2/33) could bag two wickets each.
Brief scores
England 236 & 82/4 (Rory Burns 34, Joe Root 24; Jhye Richardson 2/17) need a further 386 runs to beat Australia 473/9 dec & 230/9 dec (Travis Head 51, Marnus Labuschagne 51; Joe Root 2/27)
