Ashes 2021-22: Australia continues its domination over England in Ashes annihilation
Australia landed the most painful blow on Joe Root and his team with the last ball of day four as Mitchell Starc put the Aussies on the cusp of a 2-0 Ashes lead.
Ben Horne
3 min read
December 20, 2021 - 9:10AM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
Mitchell Starc hit Joe Root where it hurts the most, but the greater pain came from an outside edge off the last ball of the night to leave England on the verge of Ashes humiliation.
First there was India’s Adelaide 36ers and now there’s the 49ers, for the number of England batsmen to have fallen for nought in their Year of the Duck.
Australia looks set to wrap up a 2-0 series lead on Monday as England’s Christmas turkeys prepare to bring up 50 Test match ducks for the calendar year and potentially give their own 1998 world record of 54 a shake.
But not even the unwanted milestone could churn the stomach as much as the eye-watering scenes in the shadows of stumps on Sunday night, when Root was left in agony after copping a 142km/h fast ball from Mitchell Starc straight to the box.
Root started the day being hit in the testicles as he faced throwdowns from the spin bowling coach without a protector; another chapter in the tour diary of a series where everything that could go wrong, is.
A scan of Root’s nether regions cleared him to take guard, but it ceased being a laughing matter – at least for a few minutes – when Starc crunched him in a sickening blow that at one point it seemed he may not rise up from.
Australian vice-captain Travis Head said he had "a lot of sympathy" for Root.
"We got told to give him some space so we kept well away. With the day that he’d had it wasn’t a great time to get hit," Head said.
Fox Cricket’s spider cam was asked to move away as Root nervously checked everything was in place and Nathan Lyon cheekily suggested a packet of “frozen peas” might do the trick.
But Root will need something much stronger now, after the pink ball king got the key wicket in the final over of play to leave England reeling at 4-82, and still 386 runs away form a miracle that surely not even Ben Stokes (3 not out) can conjure.
Captain courageous Root contrasts the 49 ducks of the team with his personal record of 1600 Test runs this year, showed enormous ticker but his departure has made it almost impossible for England to bat through 90 overs on day five and save the Test.
Embattled opener Rory Burns already has six ducks himself – the most ever by a Test opener in a single year – but on Sunday night under lights he waddled his way out of Starc’s clutches to 34 only to become Jhye Richardson’s second victim as an Ashes crisis beckons.
Opener Haseeb Hameed departed for his third duck of the year to give returning quick Richardson his first Test wicket since January 2019, before the West Australian struck again to get Burns nicking to Steve Smith at second slip.
Earlier in the day as Root iced his groin, stand-in captain Ben Stokes was forced to ask fast bowler Ollie Robinson to moonlight for some overs as an off-spinner and not even the sun glasses he wore while bowling could mask the misery of England’s Benny Hill-style misfortunes.
There were moments of pink ball magic for England to start day four, as Australia lost three quick wickets to be 4-55, but the red faces soon returned as local hero Head (51 off 54) and Marnus Labuschagne (51) cashed in again with superb half centuries to set the home side up almost to perfection.
After some free swinging from the tail Australia declared at 9-230, setting England a world record chase of 468 to win.
There was some anxiety when Starc reeled away in pain while batting, attempting to slog one out of the ground, but the fast bowler kept swinging on either side of receiving treatment from the doctor and physio and appeared to bowl without trouble.
Marcus Harris (23) put himself at risk of being axed as an opener in the middle of a winning series, but it took a superb full-reach grab from Jos Buttler to send him on his way for yet another unconvincing score.
The painful moment Joe Root was struck by Mitchell Starc.
In an incredible sequence of events, Steve Smith should have followed Harris out from the very next ball to put Stuart Broad on a hat-trick, only for Buttler to shell the easier of the two chances, diving not quite as far to his right.
To cap off the mayhem, Broad appeared to have Smith trapped lbw the next ball after that, only for the umpire to remain motionless and the Australian captain to escape on captain’s call when England’s mystified spearhead sent his appeal up to DRS.
Smith survived his own personal hat-trick, but it mattered little because he was out for just 6 anyway – thanks to another screamer from Jekyll and Hyde Buttler.
The Australian team looks at England batsman Joe Root (R) after he was struck by a delivery from Australia's Mitchell Starc.
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Updates
WICKET and STUMPS! Root down and out as England flounder
He's battered and broken, and now he's out. Joe Root is in a world of pain, and he's on his way for 24 to close day four.
That's an enormous wicket for Australia, and buries even the faintest hopes England would've had of making tomorrow a contest.
Mitchell Starc, who floored the star batsman with delivery that hit him in the groin last over, has the captain nibbling at a delivery outside offstump and he nicks off to Alex Carey who makes no mistake.
That's a disaster for England, who finish the day 4-82 chasing 468 for the unlikeliest of victories.
Starc takes his first wicket of the second innings, with Jhye Richardson the bowler of the day taking 2-17.
Neser took the key wicket of Dawid Malan, but it was Starc's final-over heroics which has surely put the final nail in England's hopes of even holding on for a draw.
Tomorrow, it will be the Stokes show – can he combine with a lower-order that has showed little fight throughout the series to date, and produce a repeat of his Headingley heroics?
The magic 8-ball almost certainly points to 'no' but he is a player capable of the ridiculous.
So you'll have to come back and join us tomorrow to find out. Until then, go well and enjoy your night!
OUCH! Root floored by nasty Starc blow
Oh dear. There is a big concern for Joe Root here after he is cleaned up by a searing Mitchell Starc delivery which gets through the defences and hits the England skipper in the groin area.
He immediately hit the deck and has been down on his knees for several minutes now.
He was in hospital earlier today going for scans on an 'abdominal' injury, but judging by his reaction to being hit in a sensitive area very close to the abdomen… it's possible that this is where he was hit in the warm-up also.
The good news is that Root seems to be able to share a joke about the situation with Australian captain Steve Smith, who waves away the Fox Cricket Spidercam which was coming in for a closer inspection.
There's 10 minutes of play left here, and they might be some of the toughest Root has endured in his cricket career.
But he's happy to play on.
England a 'zero per cent chance' of Ashes comeback
There's now five overs left in the day – or about 25 minutes, whichever one comes first.
Steve Smith has turned back to Mitchell Starc late in the day for one final, key breakthrough.
But Stokes (2 off 21) and Root (18 off 54) are resolute in making it to stumps – Australians saw similar resolve from David Warner and Marcus Harris last night, before a comical runout.
England have threatened to deliver on the comedy front – I'm not sure these two are on the same page when it comes to turning the strike over – but nothing as yet.
England are 3-75. Interested to know what the gurus at CricViz think of the potential result scenarios?
BREAKING: An Englishman is absolutely on fire in Australia.
Sadly, for Joe Root and his squad, it's not happening in Adelaide. It's in the Big Bash league, and taking place in Brisbane, where England seamer Saqib Mahmood is tearing it up for the Sydney Thunder.
He has a remarkable 4-9, with the Brisbane Heat 5-15 after three overs chasing the Thunder's target of 197.
See, Englishman can get wickets down under! Is it too late to call him up for the Boxing Day Test?
There's 10 overs left in the day, and England has only one mission: survival.
If they're to have any hope of saving this Test, whether it be by way of a draw or a truly extraordinary victory, they need this pair of Ben Stokes and Joe Root in the middle at stumps tonight.
There's roughly 45 minutes of play available for these two to negotiate.
WICKET! Richardson picks up a second
And that's the end of Rory Burns.
He's battled hard, but has looked uncomfortable from ball one to be fair.
He goes for 34, with a thick edge off Jhye Richardson flying low to Steve Smith at second slip.
The skipper goes low and to his right and takes a good catch, a nice confidence boost after the earlier drop off Dawid Malan.
That's Richardson's second wicket, and they're deserved. He's bowled very nicely tonight.
England are 3-70, and this partnership – between captain Joe Root, and superhero Ben Stokes – shapes as the game-defining one for England.
A quick word on the quality of Australian fielding – and yes, I know Steve Smith dropped a sitter no more than half an hour ago – but how good have Cameron Green and Alex Carey been this series?
Carey has not put a foot wrong the entire series since taking the gloves from Tim Paine – and his work behind the stumps has been phenomenal. The best thing you can say about a keeper is that they're not noticed, and Carey has worked extremely hard to be invisible.
And Green…. wow, he's such an athlete for a man his size and is developing into a world-class gully.
His ability to cover ground and keep the pressure on through boundary-saving dives is outstanding. It's easy to forget he's 22-years old. He looks every bit a Test cricketer.
WATCH: Neser traps Malan in front
DRINKS: One wicket falls as England hold on
England are grimly digging in here, with Rory Burns – who has been lambasted as a walking wicket since he landed on these shores – potentially fighting for his career.
He's just survived a tight caught-behind call, with a quick review saving his bacon, but he's engaging in a serious battle with Nathan Lyon – with the Aussie spinner unable to break through just yet.
The first hour of play of the night session has brought just one wicket, that of Dawid Malan to Michael Neser, with Australia not getting the magic to happen with the new-ish pink ball and England holding firm.
Burns and Joe Root are set in the middle, with England 2-58.
They're chasing 468… if you think that is worth reminding. A long way to go before anyone starts considering that a realistic option, I'm afraid.
England survive tight DRS call
We're going upstairs for a caught-behind dismissal of Rory Burns, but it looks like the England opener is in the right here – he immediately went for the DRS when given out off Cameron Green.
Green hits the right line and squeezes a good length ball between bat and pad, but it's a good review for England as that's just clipped the back leg rather than the inside edge.
Would've been Green's sixth wicket of the series. He's really come on as a second-change bowler.
Australian selectors will provide an early steer on potential replacements for Cameron Green when they unveil an Australia A squad, with a former Test opener appearing to be a good chance for selection.
Doug Walters burst on to the scene batting for Australia at 19, now he is urging selectors to be bold and pick a 19-year-old Blue to open the batting this summer for the Test series against India.
