England 325 and 114 for 4 (Duckett 50*, Stokes 29*) want one other 257 runs to beat Australia 416 and 279 (Khawaja 77, Broad 4-65)
Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins put Australia inside touching distance of a 2-0 Ashes lead as they lower via England’s high order throughout the last session of a day that had earlier been marked by the house aspect’s unprecedented short-ball plan, which reached reaped rewards however in the end seemed to haven’t any bearing on the end result.
For durations of the fourth day the sport virtually sport to a standstill as Australia ducked and swayed away from bouncer after bouncer, however general they misplaced 8 for 92 which, given England’s latest historical past of chases, together with one in every of 378 in opposition to India final summer time, provided them a glimmer with a goal of 371 in 4 classes.
Nonetheless, these hopes had been blown away by the brilliance of Starc and Cummins which left them 45 for 4 and the absence of Nathan Lyon, who had astonishingly appeared to bat at No. 11, probably not proving an element. It appeared they had been 5 down shortly earlier than the shut when Starc fantastically caught Ben Duckett’s tried higher lower at nice leg, however the third umpire dominated the catch wasn’t clear because the ball scraped alongside the outfield, a lot to Australia’s amazement and frustration.
The primary wicket of England’s innings was not among the many memorable ones as Zak Crawley tickled Starc down the leg aspect. However Starc was discovering motion with the brand new ball and produced an exquisite supply which got here again sharply into Ollie Pope and clattered center stump.
Cummins, who is not any stranger to creating viral Ashes moments, then produced what could go down because the over of the sequence as he roughed up Joe Root with a supply which struck his forearm earlier than having him fending to slide. He then produced a ball to take Harry Brook’s off stump which matched the one Root acquired at Previous Trafford in 2019.
Australia had been two wickets away from England’s bowlers and there was an opportunity the sport might hurtle to a conclusion however Duckett, together with his second half-century of the match, and Ben Stokes – who had earlier put his knee on the road with a 12-over bouncer-laden spell – cast a stand of 69 to make sure that there could be room for a number of…..
