Stuart Broad sparks Australian batting collapse to hand England victory in fourth Ashes Test

STUART Broad sparks an almighty batting collapse for Australia that hands England victory in the fourth Ashes Test in Durham.

AUSTRALIA'S fragile batsmen turned the sniff of victory into the now familiar stench of defeat after another abject capitulation consigned them to a humbling loss in the fourth Test at Chester-le-Street.

Set a foreboding 299 to win the fourth Test, Australia collapsed from 0-109 to be all-out for 224. That gave England, which had already retained the Ashes, a 74-run victory and an emphatic 3-0 series lead.

The England bowling, particularly that of Stuart Broad, who took 6-50, including 6-20 in the space of 43 balls, was outstanding.

TOUGHEN UP AND GET NASTY, AUSTRALIA

Fittingly Broad, who took 11-121 for the match, finished things off in the late evening sunshine having Peter Siddle caught, and sparking raucous celebrations by the home team.\

"Cooky threw me the ball and asked me to spice it up a bit," said Broad, who did just that.

But if Broad bowled brilliantly, Australia would yet again lament pitiful batting that, during one period, saw them lose 5-13 in 56 balls as they squandered a potentially match-winning position.

Midway through the day, a century opening partnership between David Warner and Chris Rogers had put a big dent in the England lead, and seemed to deflate the bowlers, making the difficult run chase seem attainable.

AT LEAST WARNER SHOWS SOME FIGHT

But after Rogers was caught at first slip from Graeme Swann for 49, none of the batsmen who followed provided the necessary resistance against the reinvigorated English attack.

Usman Khawaja's dismissal for 21 left Australia 2-147, and sparked the now customary clatter of wickets. Warner (71), Michael Clarke (21), Steven Smith (2), Shane Watson (2) and Brad Haddin (4) all fell in quick succession as England pounced.

Warner, who was caught behind from a snorting ball from Tim Bresnan, vindicated his promotion to the opening role in this Test with an excellent innings beside the veteran Rogers.

But, as both Broad and Bresnan produced excellent spells, the middle order was unable to follow the opening pair’s lead.

CLARKE DEVASTATED BY SERIES LOSS

Clarke was bowled by a darting away-swinger from Broad, Smith dragged Broad onto his stumps pulling, Watson was again hit on the pads shuffling across the crease to Bresnan and Haddin was, perhaps unluckily, LBW to Broad. An Australian referral showed the ball might have just clipped the leg bail.

That exposed the tail that, unlike Trent Bridge where Australia had clawed within 14 runs of an unlikely victory, could not defy the English attack.

If the individual performances were disappointing, the collective result was demoralising for the Australians who had, with one session of dire batting, turned an excellent start to the run chase into a seventh defeat in their past eight Tests.

The crowd that celebrated wildy after Siddle’s dismissal had been muffled earlier in the day when Warner and Rogers posted their century stand.

ENGLAND ENJOYS WIN AFTER DAMP SQUIB

As a measure of Australia’s batting woes, that was Australia's first century opening partnership in an Ashes Test since Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer’s combined at The Oval in 2005.

As the wickets tumbled, Australia would regret their inability to polish off the English tail quickly in the first session, despite some wholehearted bowling by Ryan Harris.

Stuart Broad

After England resumed at 5-234, Harris bowled Ian Bell for 113 and Matt Prior with successive balls. But some lusty hitting by Bresnan (46) and Graeme Swann (30 not out) took England to 330, an overall lead of 299, which presented a monumental challenge for a struggling batting line-up.

Harris took four wickets on the fourth day to finish with 7-117 from 28 overs. It was the best return for an Australian pace bowler since Mitchell Johnson took 8-61 against South Africa in Perth in 2008.

That would prove a rare highlight in what was yet another dismal day for the Australians.

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