Daniel Brettig contrasts the fortunes of Alastair Cook and Joe Root with that of Steve Smith as England slid into trouble at the WACA (0:52)
Tea England 403 and 3 for 71 (Vince 36*, Malan 4*, Hazlewood 2-16) trail Australia 9 for 662 dec (Smith 239, M Marsh 181, Khawaja 50, Anderson 4-116) by 188 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The urn was tantalisingly close to Australia’s reach at tea on the fourth day at the WACA, after they picked up three wickets within the first 15 overs of England’s second innings. However, rain forced the players from the field five minutes before the scheduled break, and the weather remains the one unknown factor in this match, with further showers forecast for the final day. At tea, England were 3 for 71, still trailing by 188 runs, with James Vince on 36 and Dawid Malan on 4.
Australia had declared early in the post-lunch session at 9 for 662, which was their ninth-highest total in Test cricket, and gave them a lead of 259 runs. England’s reply began poorly when Mark Stoneman flirted outside off stump and edged behind off Josh Hazlewood for 3, and soon afterwards Alastair Cook’s lean run of form continued when on 14 he drove a return catch to Hazlewood, who claimed it brilliantly diving low with his right hand.
The loss of Joe Root for 14 later in the session compounded England’s problems. He fell to Nathan Lyon’s first delivery of the innings when he drove outside off and his edge ricocheted off the glove of wicketkeeper Tim Paine, and into the hands of Steven Smith at slip. By the end of the session, England faced an uphill task to either make Australia bat again, or to bat out a draw, which they need in order to keep the series alive.
Australia’s total was their highest in Test cricket since the Cardiff Test during the 2009 Ashes, when they declared their second innings at 6 for 674, and England managed to hold on for 105 overs to escape with a draw. On a cracking WACA pitch, England’s task this time will not be so easy.
On the third day in Perth, England had managed one wicket in 90 overs, but on the fourth day, they plundered three wickets in the first five overs. Yet, despite preventing Mitchell Marsh from reaching a double-century, and Smith from posting a 250, England still found themselves in the field at lunch on day four as Australia batted on and on, and it was not until the ninth wicket fell after lunch that Smith called his men inside.
The early wickets of Marsh, Smith and Mitchell Starc gave England hope of running through Australia’s lower order, but Paine and Pat Cummins refused to budge, and compiled a 93-run stand that continued to frustrate England. Cummins made 41, his fourth score in the forties this series, before he was lbw to James Anderson. Paine finished not out on 49 when Lyon skied a catch to give Anderson his fourth wicket.
The morning began with Smith and Marsh sitting on a 301-run partnership, but it took only two deliveries for the stand to be broken when Anderson nipped one back in to trap Marsh in front for 181. Smith added 10 to his overnight score before he too was lbw to Anderson, for 239, to a delivery that pitched in line and straightened. Smith was given not out on field, but England’s review proved a sensible one.
Later in the same over, Starc was run out when he called Paine through for a leg-bye while England were appealing vociferously for another lbw; perhaps the appeal confused the batsmen, for both Paine and Starc found themselves halfway down the pitch while Vince ran in from gully and whipped the bails off. Australia had gone from 4 for 549 to 7 for 561, but from there Cummins and Paine settled in for the remainder of the session.
Paine was given out lbw to Anderson but survived on review when ball-tracking showed it going over the top, and he played some fine shots throughout the rest of the session. Several deliveries from fast bowlers hit cracks in the pitch and jagged like legbreaks, which may not bode well for England’s batsmen, but Paine and Cummins survived until lunch.
Along the way, England became just the eighth team in Test history to have five bowlers all concede 100 runs in the same innings, and Anderson and Broad the only bowlers in history to have twice been part of such a scoreline, having also done so in that Cardiff Test of 2009. But if England find a way to produce the same result here, they won’t mind a bit.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo