Joe Root to the last ball of day four as Australia moves six victorious wickets in Test 2; England will resume at 82-4 in an unlikely 468 chase with Ben Stokes in the fold; Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan and Rory Burns were also fired on the fourth day after Australia declared 230-9.
The sacking of Joe Root on the last ball is a serious blow to England’s chances of saving the second test in Adelaide.
Heartbroken Joe Root was on the last ball of the fourth day when England’s hopes of salvaging a draw in the Adelaide day-night ash event took a hammer blow.
Root (24) edged Mitchell Starc (1-21) behind to leave England 82-4 in their second inning after setting up an unlikely 468 for victory, with Australia now just six wickets of a 2-0 lead. in the series.
The England captain did not field for the first 80 minutes on Sunday after being hit in the groin in the nets and his distress was exacerbated late in the day when he was pinned down in a similar area by a Starc delivery.
The root continued to advance but was unable to reach the stumps, meaning England’s chances of carrying out an unlikely act of rescue appear to hinge on Ben Stokes, who is three out of 40 deliveries away.
England also lost Haseeb Hameed for nothing – the starter bagged the team’s 49th duck of the calendar year and the team’s 13th by a starter – Dawid Malan for 20 and Rory Burns for a brave 34.
There have been no draws in the last 16 men’s day and night test matches and Australia is hoping to complete a positive result on the final day and extend their flawless winning streak in the pink ball events to nine matches, even though they have been scored. by Stokes before in Ashes cricket with his heroics at Headingley in 2019.
Day five could still be a blast, but day four was a title unto itself, with Root’s trip to the hospital for scans, Ollie Robinson throwing three off-spin overs, Stokes making an impressive catch in the depths to fire. to Travis Head, and a Covid-19 outbreak that hit the press corps.
The day finally ended with Australia still in complete control as Starc’s elimination of Root followed Jhye Richardson (2-17) with Hameed and Burns trapped behind and Michael Neser (1-7) pinning Malan lbw.
Hameed overcame an excellent rising delivery from Richardson in the second over as Australia hit with just four runs on the board, but his starting partner Burns came up quite well, easily registering his highest score of the series, before moving Richardson to Steve Smith. on the slip.
Australia had declared 230-9 in their second inning, 20 minutes before tea, and the hosts had lost five wickets in the second session while chasing fast runs before inserting England once more.
Head (51 of 54), Marnus Labuschagne (51 of 96), Alex Carey (6 of 6), Starc (19 of 20) and Richardson (8 of 4) each fell, with the latter’s firing prompting the second statement. of the Australian game. and leaving Cameron Green 33 not out of 43 deliveries.
Head caught brilliantly in the run by Stokes in the deep square, and Labuschagne had hit 89 of 105 balls for the fifth wicket after Australia lost 3-10 in an action-packed start to the day when they fell from their 45-1 of overnight. to 55-4, at which point the lead was 292.
Night watchman Neser (3) came close to being knocked out by Hameed from the first ball, but it didn’t last much longer, hitting a James Anderson pinch on his stumps.
Jos Buttler’s reverse test then continued, with standout sacks representing Marcus Harris (23) and Smith (6), but a bad fall prevented Stuart Broad from discarding Smith’s first ball for a golden duck.
Buttler’s blotch added to bombard Labuschagne twice in Australia’s early innings, though he also caught three screamers, with Sunday’s ejections of Harris and Smith as he jumped to his left, following a stunner that dove into his right to eliminate Harris on the first day of the game. .
Broad and Robinson benefited from Buttler’s brilliance to collect the grounds of Harris and Smith respectively: Smith was caught with gloves on the side of the leg during Robinson’s spell of stitching bowling, as the first 13 overs of the day gave three terrains and only 14 races.
The next 15 overs produced 79 runs as Head and Labuschagne increased the scoring rate, with Head’s four pre-drinks causing a change in tempo and Stokes’s two costly overs with wide, no balls and limits.
Stokes excelled on the field, however, catching Head superbly and Labuschagne more routinely in the depths shortly after the batters had sealed their eighth and 12th try out of fifty, respectively.
Head was fired by Robinson, who is now bowling again after three break jumps before dinner, while Labuschagne’s outing handed part-time leg-spinner Malan his maiden Test wicket.
Malan struck again to eliminate Richardson amid Australia’s second low-order pre-declaration match party, while Root initially downplayed concerns about his fitness by bowling and scooping up the grounds of Carey and Starc. caught.
Root was hitting before the night was out and surpassed Sir Alastair Cook’s record of 4,844 runs as captain of the England Test, before being beaten by Starc and then sacked by the same pitcher as Australia neared victory.
