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Day 4, second Ashes Test from the Adelaide Oval

England are looking to Joe Root to become their saviour in the second Test and are halfway to their total at stumps.

Wayne Smith
England captain Joe Root has made his half-century and got his team back into the Test. Picture: AAP
England captain Joe Root has made his half-century and got his team back into the Test. Picture: AAP
19 min read
11:04PMDecember 05, 2017

Australia have had a disastrous day four at the Adelaide Oval and things look set for a huge conclusion on day five. Join us back here tomorrow for all the action.

10.45pm: THE DAILY WRAP - ENGLAND LION-LIKE IN COMEBACK

Whether Australia win this Test or not the biggest question will remain, what was Steve Smith thinking when he failed to enforce the follow-on, on day three?

England were on their knees at that point, sword hanging over their neck, and Smith took his foot off their throat.

The lifeline he gave them when he allowed Anderson to take a new ball at dusk was dangerous and it never got better on day four as the three Lions roared.

It was Anderson who continued to be the detsroyer taking 5-43 as Chris Woakes took 4-36 to have Australia all out for 138.

In reply England made a bright start to be 53 without loss until Cook was trapped leg before by Lyon and a succession of wickets fell to leave them 3-91.

Then Joe Root steadied the ship to be 67 not out at stumps. The England skipper looked determined, while Smith looked desperate, especially after he burnt Australia’s referalls on unsuccessful attempts.

It might well be a sleepless night for Smith as England need 177 more runs with six wickets in hand on the final day with their captain appearing to be in imperious touch.

Wayne Smith 10.06pm: England halfway there at close

It’s all going for England now, as the glum look on Smith’s face testifies. With Root and Malan having put on 77 runs for the fourth wicket, they’ve almost reached the halfway mark of their 354 run chase. Malan was hit on the pads by Lyon and when the umpire turned down their appeal, they had no more reviews to challenge the decision. As it happened, the ball would have hit the top of leg stump so it was doubly frustrating for the Aussies. Had the umpire given him out, he would have remained out had England reviewed. But, of course, he didn’t and the pressure is coming onto the fielding side for the first time in the match.

But Cummins dramatically eases it as he comes around the wicket to Malan, spears one into his off-stump and England have lost their fourth wicket for 169, Malan departs for 29, having hung around to assist Root to put on 78 runs. It was an effort ball by Cummins that did the damage, the young bowler pumping out a 145kph shock ball that beat Malan for pace.

As Australia did last night, England sends out a nightwatchman, with Chris Woakes coming out to join Root. There’s probably 13 balls left in the day’s play and Root - who gave Lyon a serve last night for time-wasting - decides to do some gardening. And it is Woakes who has the last laugh, squeezing out three runs from the last ball of the day, from Cummins.

England is 4-176 off 62 overs, needing only to do that all again to get home, with victory now just 176 runs away. Certainly it has been the visitors’ day and they’ll be well-satisfied with their position, with Root 67 from 114 deliveries and Woakes 5 from eight.

Please join us for what is certain to be a gripping final day of this Test in the city of churches. And don’t be surprised if Steve Smith makes his way into one of them, praying for a change of fortune.

9.51pm: Cummins knocks over Malan

WICKET: Dawid Malan hears the death rattle and he is clean bowled by a very quick Pat Cummins delivery crashing into his off stump. England 4-169.

Wayne Smith 9.17pm: Is a captain’s knock coming?

Josh Hazlewood’s struggles continue, with Root taking him for successive fours. So far in this series he has taken 5-194, basically 39 runs per wicket, which is on average 13 more than he has paid for his 123 Test wickets. It’s not that he is bowling badly but he just looks out of sorts.

Not so Nathan Lyon who continues to bowl brilliantly, if unluckily. Case in point, Malan edges him to first slip where Smith puts him down. How fortunes have swung for the Australian captain. He was the reason the Australians won the Gabba Test but it may well be that if England win in Adelaide tomorrow accusing fingers will be pointed in his direction. The decision to bat last night was obviously a critical one, so too the decision right at the start of the innings not to review Cook’s lbw. And a dropped catch won’t help his mood.

By contrast, events have turned in the other direction for England captain Root. It was a brain-fade for him to send the Australians in after winning the toss but he marshalled his bowlers well to restrict Australia to 138 in its second innings. And now he has scored another Test 50, the 34th of his career, courtesy of a marvellous late cut off Starc. His conversion rate of scoring centuries is notoriously bad - he only has 13 - but he certainly is setting himself up here for three figures.

Meanwhile, even Malan has come to life, taking Starc’s 12th over for 14 runs and suddenly another mini-milestone is in the rear vision mirror as England reaches 3-156, just 200 runs short of victory,

Wayne Smith 8.37pm: England living dangerously

It’s now approaching the same part of the day in which England caused havoc in the Australian second innings but the Australian bowlers aren’t getting the same assistance that Jimmy Anderson and company enjoyed last night. That’s because the ball is 40 overs old. The pacemen are still moving it around, with Cummins looking threatening as always, but its not as unplayable as it was when Usman Khawaja and Dave Warner were batting.

That said, the Australians have just used - and wasted - one of their referrals after Cummins has almost cut Root in half with a ball that exploded off a length. Umpire Gaffney gave it not out and this time he was right, with the ball missing everything, bat, gloves and stumps, although it was close on all counts. And now Smith has got it wrong again, reviewing the not out call against Malan when he was struck on the pads by Hazlewood. But the ball-tracker shows the ball going over the stumps and Australia has now used up its referrals. It’s still 3-117.

8.20pm: Here’s how the Root review looked

8.13pm Aussie cricket fans need this one to make them smile after the last 24 hours

Wayne Smith 8pm: Starc sends Vince back to the pavilion

A worrying partnership comes to an end as Vince nicks one off Starc, with Peter Handscomb taking a sharp catch at first slip, and he is gone for 15. He and Root had put on 37 runs for the third wicket and 23 runs since the dinner interval and looked to be settling in at the wicket. Certainly they had looked to be attacking Starc with impunity, taking him for 11 runs from his first over after the break, but the left-armer set him up with that dismissal as he got down on one knee and tried to thrash the ball through the off-side. Dawid Malan joins his skipper and suddenly the extra 252 runs needed for victory look a long way off.

Root meanshile survives an LBW appeal from Lyon on review. The England skipper, who appears in good touch was given out but the review showed the ball going over the top of middle. England roll on to 3-101.

Wayne Smith 7pm: England face difficult period

Twilight is just starting to fall and is the ball just starting to move? Certainly it looks that way as Starc gets one to lift and deviate and Stoneman, who has been held scoreless for the last 15 ball, fends at it and steers the ball low to gully where Usman Khawaja takes an excellent catch, just getting his hands under the ball before it goes to ground. Stoneman, after beginning strongly, scoring his first 26 runs off 22 deliveries, is out for 36 off 65 balls, so the Australians have reined him in after his early onslaught against Starc. That’s two wickets down for 54 and it brings to the wicket the man the Australians will feel stands between them and victory, England skipper Joe Root. Vince, meanwhile, sends an excellent cover drive straight to the fence off Hazlewood to take the tally to 2-60, still needing 294

6.33pm: Starc removes Stoneman

And just like that the Aussies are flying as Mitchell Starc gets one to move ever so slightly away from Stoneman, who nicks it to Khawaja at gully. England 2-54 and crumbling.

Wayne Smith 6.15pm: Alastair is cooked on review

Australia gets the breakthrough and in similar fashion to the “dismissal” it had right at the start of the innings. But where Smith has decided not to refer it to the third umpire when Hazlewood hit Cook on the pad when he was one - replays showed he would have been out, with the ball hitting leg stump - this time the Australian captain allowed the bowler, Lyon, to talk him into the review. And this time, the “not out” decision has to be overturned, with the ball pitching on leg stump and straightening. That’s the second dismissal Chris Gaffney has got wrong, although to be fair to the New Zealander, it does look like the ball might be heading down the leg side. Still, from memory, that’s the fourth decision he has given in this Test that has had to be reversed. England are now 1-53, still 301 runs away from victory and new batsman James Vince comes out to face a very hostile field. Stoneman is still there, however, on 36 but is living dangerously against Lyon.

Meanwhile, the aggregate crowd total for the first four days has been posted and it’s an alltime Adelaide Oval record of 173,849 - better even than the crowd that attended the Bodyline series Test of 1933. Test cricket is alive and well.

Wayne Smith 5.53pm: Runs flow for England

Alistair Cook. Picture: AAP.
Alistair Cook. Picture: AAP.

Tim Paine caught everybody napping when he whipped off the bails to stump Moeen Ali in Brisbane and he’s almost done the same again as he attempts to catch Cook out of his ground. Not this time, though, as replays show that Cook had his toe planted behind the crease - and now even a very “wobbly” line would have done the trick four Australia on that occasion. Cook was 11 at the time - he has since moved to 12 - while Stoneman looks in full control on 32 and England have made steady progress towards the 354 victory target, reaching 0-45.

Wayne Smith 5.17pm: Australia’s missed chance

Australian captain Steve Smith with teammates. Picture: Getty Images.
Australian captain Steve Smith with teammates. Picture: Getty Images.

Steve Smith makes another blunder, deciding not to waste a referral after England opener Alastair Cook was not given out lbw when hit by Hazlewood in his second over when the score was 0-1. It was an appalling call by New Zealand umpire Chris Gaffney with replays showing that the ball would have crashed into leg stump. The umpires ruled that Peter Hanscomb was out when he was caught off his shoulder earlier today - a decision subsequently overturned - so how could they make such a seriously bad call. But Smith, too, must share some blame. Hazlewood was virtually pleading with the umpire to raise his finger and when a bowler is that animated, surely his captain has to back him up. Besides, Cook is one of the few batsmen in the England side, capable of batting for a long time. And just to rub salt into the wound, Mark Stoneman has taken three fours and a three from five Mitchell Starc deliveries, all through the midwicket area, to further loosen the shackles on England. They have now raced to 0-16 and one wonders whether the momentum is now starting to flow the visitors’ way.

5.05pm: Smith’s blunder

Hazlewood hits Cook’s pads with an in-swinger and the Australian’s appeals are waved away. Hopefully this doesn’t come back to haunt captain Steve Smith.

Wayne Smith 4.34pm: Australia all out for 138

How desperately does Jimmy Anderson want his first five-for in Australia? He’s got 4-38 off 20 overs, so when Starc put a ball straight up in the air, the English spearhead had eyes only for the ball. But there was a lot in his way, first Starc, who was trying to regain his ground, and then the stumps. He actually grasped the catch but in the crash of wickets as he slid in, it slipped out of his hands. He had to scurry off the field to change his torn trousers but he returned to bowl the next over - and this time he was rewarded.

Starc was never going to hang around and graft for his runs and he let fly, only for the ball to fly directly to Moeen at mid-off. The England team surround Anderson and he holds aloft the pink Kookaburra to celebrate his first five wicket haul - 5-40 off 21 overs. The end is nigh with Josh Hazlewood the last man to the wicket although Cummins is playing a mixed innings, some shots looking like they were taken from a batting manual, some like a rank bunny.

Now the only interest is whether the Australians can push their lead past the 350 mark. And they do, as Cummins works Anderson to leg for a single. There’s been a lot of action in this first session but let’s take a moment to savour Cummins’ batting. When he stands up and bats properly, as opposed to chasing runs, he looks a very fine player indeed.

Sadly, we don’t have long to appreciate the sight as Hazlewood dollies a catch Malan in the gully to give Overton his first wicket of the second innings. Australia is all out for 138. So now we know the target - England has to score 354 runs to win, Australia has to take 10 wickets.

4.11pm: Anderson makes amends

WICKET! Just minutes after dropping Starc, the safe hands of Ali sent the Australian back to the stands, with Anderson claiming his first five-wicket haul down under.

Jimmy Anderson celebrates with England teammates. Picture: Sarah Reed.
Jimmy Anderson celebrates with England teammates. Picture: Sarah Reed.

4.05pm: Starc’s big let-off

Dropped! We saw some brilliant catches yesterday but Anderson is unable to replicate the feats of Lyon and Starc, ironically dropping Starc, falling and tearing his pants in the process.

Wayne Smith 4.03pm: Woakes hits form

Australia’s lead has gone well past the 6-315 that Australian scored in the fourth innings of the 1902 Ashes Test to beat England, so Root’s side will have to break a ground record if it is to level the series. Certainly the Australians appear to think they are now safe, with Marsh spanking a delightful cover drive to the fence off Moeen Ali while Starc has taken the aerial route, going down on one knee to smash the ball 84m over the midwicket boundary. But the adventurism comes at a cost, with Woakes jagging the ball back through Marsh’s defence to bowl him, possibly off an inside edge. He has scored 19 off 60, so he was very watchful throughout, and Woakes now joins Anderson in taking four wickets in the innings. Pat Cummins, batting ridiculously low at 10 - because of the nightwatchman - gets his innings under way with a single to leg to take the tally to 8-123, a lead of 338.

3.56pm: WICKET! Marsh bowled for 19

Australia’s last recognised batsman, Shaun Marsh, was sent on his way after being bowled by Woakes. That brings Pat Cummins to the crease, with England likely to start their run chase soon.

Wayne Smith 3.40pm: History now with Australia

A seventh Australian wicket has fallen and they are still 10 runs short of three figures. Paine tried to pull a Woakes delivery from outside off-stump but succeeds only in skying the ball to backward square leg where Craig Overton enhances his already impressive Test debut by taking an excellent diving catch. The Australian keeper has added only 11 runs to the tally, which now stands at 7-90, a lead of 305.

Mitchell Starc joins Marsh who at last gets something to hit and lashes a ball over gully to finally reach double figures. But it has taken him 39 runs. Starc doesn’t look like he has the same patience, and nibbles one around the corner to the undefended fine leg area, forcing keeper Jonny Bairstow to give chase. And that brings up the Australian 100. To be precise, 7-103, a lead of 318. England will need to break the record for the highest successful run chase at this ground if they’re to be victorious.

3.29pm: WICKET! Paine sent packing

Tim Paine. Picture: Getty Images.
Tim Paine. Picture: Getty Images.

Tim Paine departs for just 11, with a nice work from Craig Overton - who raced in from fine leg - to catch off Chris Woakes’ bowling.

Wayne Smith 3.19pm: Australia’s lead hits 300

Australia posts a 300 lead - and in slightly amusing fashion. Paine poked the ball out into the covers where Mark Stoneman swoops on it and, sighting Marsh attempting to regain his ground, pings at the stumps. Broad is the back-stop but he does a very ordinary job and the ball scuttles through to the fence. Woakes, the bowler, throws his hand in the air in disgust and it’s clear that Broad is not his favourite person right at this moment. Australia is now just 12 runs away from the highest successful run chase at this ground but who’s to say that there is not a potential hero lurking in the England ranks?

Wayne Smith 3.00pm: Paine gets busy

Handscomb’s unconvincing innings comes to an end, ironically with a shot which came out of the middle of the bat. He tries to steer Anderson through the gully but picks out Malan at third slip and is again out for a disappointing 12 off 42 balls. He had tried moving before the bowler delivered the ball, Steve Smith-like, and he had tried standing still, but the end result his head was a long way away the shot and that means it almost certainly will go in the air.

Anderson now has 4-28 and is bowling for the first time on this tour with a man who has taken 513 Test wickets. He has never had a “Michelle Pfeiffer” - a five-for - in Australia, with his best being 4-44 against Ricky Ponting’s team in Melbourne in 2010, but he is on course for that honour today. And well-deserved it would be. Tim Paine has come out and been busy from the get-go and with Marsh has taken the score from 6-75 to 6-81, a lead of 296.

2.45pm: WICKET! Handscomb gone

Malan takes a brilliant catch off some slick work from Anderson to dismiss Handscomb. Danger signs for Australia.

Wayne Smith 2.38pm: Baiting the Lyon

Nathan Lyon is struck a nasty blow as Stuart Broad gets a short ball to chase the nightwatchman and strikes him on the grill of his helmet. There’s no apparent damage done but Lyon was lucky that the next guard — introduced following the tragic death of Phillip Hughes — was dislodged and almost fell on his stumps. Had it done so, he would have been out, which would have done wonders for Broad’s reputation with Australian fans!

Next ball the English paceman comes steaming in and again drops it short but Lyon, swaying away, keeps his head still and lofts the ball up-and-over the slips cordon for a boundary. And just to prove it was not entirely a fluke, he backs away to leg and square drives the next delivery to the fence as well. He’s taking a few liberties now, luckily skying a lofted drive over cover over the heads of two fieldsmen, but it all comes to an end two balls into Jimmy Anderson’s fourth over as Lyon holes out to mid-off. He looked to have been rattled by that ball which hit him on the grill, as indeed Joe Root was when struck there by Mitchell Starc in Brisbane, but he has done his job, making 14 runs and, more importantly, taking some sting out of the England attack. It’s always a bit of fun when a nightwatchman is making merry but now the grim battle resumes as Shaun Marsh comes out to join Peter Handscomb with the score at 5/71, a lead of 286.

2.33pm: WICKET! Lyon holes out to Broad

England have a vital breakthrough early on the fourth day of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide, with nightwatchman Nathan Lyon holing out to Stuart Broad for 14 off the bowling of Jimmy Anderson as he attempts to lift the run rate.

Australia is 5/71 in the 33rd over as Shaun Marsh comes to the crease, with Peter Handscomb the not out batsman on 12.

Wayne Smith 2.04pm: Early scare for Handscomb

An early scare for Australia when Peter Handscomb is given out caught in the slips off Jimmy Anderson’s third delivery, but he instantly reviews the decision and it quickly becomes apparent that the ball deflected off his right shoulder, not the shoulder of the bat.

England captain Joe Root doesn’t like the overrule and remonstrates with umpire Aleem Dar but there is nothing the umpire can do after the decision was taken out of his hands. And indeed, it does like the correct call was made.

It’s slow going from the Australians, with only three runs coming off the opening three overs.

Wayne Smith 2pm: Day 4 live coverage

Welcome to the fourth day of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval. I’m Wayne Smith and I’ll be bringing you the blow-by-blow action throughout the day. The first thing to be done is to put Australian captain Steve Smith’s decision not to enforce the follow-on to one side. It’s done now. There is no point in playing Monday morning quarterback.

For the second time in 24 hours, Peter Handscomb will resume his overnight innings of three (from 17 balls) and all Australia will be hoping he can survive for more than the three deliveries he did yesterday morning. He will have the nightwatchman Nathan Lyon (three from 10 balls) to keep him company and he has already shown what a fighter he is. At 4/53, with Cameron Bancroft, Dave Warner, Usman Khawaja and Smith already back in the dressing room, Australia has a lead of only 268.

The highest successful fourth innings run at the ground was 6/315 by Australia but I’m guessing that wasn’t a day-night Test, since it was played in 1901-02. Australia has won both day-night Tests played over the last two years, losing three wickets in chasing 127 against the South Africans and seven wickets in getting the 187 they needed to beat the Black Caps in 2015. So runs will be at a premium today.

Jimmy Anderson (2/16 off 11 overs) and Chris Woakes (2/13 off seven) won’t initially have the helpful conditions they enjoyed last night but for the first time in the series, the England bowlers have their tails up and it will be fascinating to see how that transfers onto the field.

1.35pm: Punter rates yesterday’s brilliant fielding

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has had his say on some superb work on the field on day three.

Andrew Faulkner 1.20pm: Clem Hill finally makes a stand

Clem Hill was a hard man so it’s apt that he’s been rendered in granite.

And the granite chosen for the statue of the Australian captain — who notoriously won a fist fight with a Test selector — was hard by even granite standards.

Sculptor Silvio Apponyi chewed through a lot of diamond drill bits over five years of hard work on the Hill statue.

The end result was unveiled at Adelaide Oval’s southern gate yesterday to a warm reception amid a sense of a debt repaid.

Read more here

Peter Lalor 12.30pm: How’d you sleep, Steve?

How do you reckon Steve Smith slept last night? Do you reckon he tossed and turned and second guessed himself about not enforcing the follow-on?

If it allows England back in the series the consequences could be devastating for Australia’s hopes.

A side that seemed broken and appeared incapable of winning a match will grow a leg, an arm and a sense of confidence hitherto unthinkable.

Has his risk averse decision not to enforce the follow-on — sending his men out to bat in possibly the most hostile conditions they could face this side of a day five dust bowl in Delhi — allowed England back into the match?

It could have changed the course of the series, just as Ricky Ponting’s decision to bowl at Edgbaston in 2005 turned the course of that Ashes.

Australian captain Steve Smith. Photo: Getty Images
Australian captain Steve Smith. Photo: Getty Images

England had fallen 215 runs short on the first inning last night and would have had to start again under lights with Australia’s fast bowlers a little tired but energised by the conditions, the situation and a new ball.

None of them had bowled more than 20 overs.

To follow on or not to follow on is a question that has tormented Australian cricket since Waugh enforced the follow on in Calcutta 16 years ago.

Waugh’s side were well in front, had won the first match. They’d made 475 in the first innings, India 171. At first blush the decision seemed sensible, India was 3-115 when Sachin Tendulkar waded through the silence on his way back to the dressing room.

Australia had won the past 16 Tests with ease.

Then two batsmen changed the river’s course.

VVS Laxman’s 281 was aided and abetted by Rahul Dravid’s 180 and what Indians call the greatest Test ever was won by the home team.

Never give a sucker an even break seemed to be the learning from that turn of events.

Smith has given a cricket team whose course seemed set for a 5-0 humiliation a chance to resurrect its hopes.

His decision was rational but will only be defendable if he wins. Victory justifies all that precedes it in the same way loss condemns the same.

He has a side without an all-rounder. His three seamers are together after the best part of a decade in which they have rotated in and out of the rehab ward. Rarely have any of them played through a five Test sequence in good health.

The pink ball was devastating for the Australian openers on the third day, but it’s behaviour bore no resemblance to its behaviour on the first two evenings.

Australia has the front running here, Smith should get away with it, but that rattle of bones he heard with every wicket which fell last night must be as unsettling for him as it is inspiring to England.

12.20pm: Root’s blunder still hurts

“‘ENG WON TOSS’. Even the grand old Adelaide Oval scoreboard has become a heckler here, enunciating the last two words of this information with a golden yellow script in the bottom right hand corner,” writes The Australian’s Gideon Haigh as he looks ahead to Day 4 of today’s second Ashes Test between Australia and England.

While much commentary last night centred on Australian captain Steve Smith’s decision to not enforce the follow-on, Haigh said Smith’s England counterpart Joe Root was no doubt still bemoaning his decision to send Australia in to bat on Saturday.

“Decisions like Root’s have a way of following a captain round, acquiring as they do a context from the unfolding of events. This is unfair, because these subsequent events are complexly inflected. But the heads-or-tails simplicity of the coin’s fall appeals to our narrativising instincts, offering an immediate counterfactual entire in itself,” Haigh writes.

Read the full story here.

On the other hand, former England captain Mike Atherton was searching for silver linings at the close of play yesterday.

“An Australian tour occasionally requires a grasping at straws, the search for silver linings. Here goes: England’s batting in the first innings was so bad, that, along with Steve Smith’s reluctance to enforce the follow-on, it allowed the bowlers a chance to redeem themselves under lights later on,” he wrote for The Australian.

“As a result, England ended the day in a rather better frame of mind than they deserved to be, massively behind in the match but not completely out of it.”

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/cricket/live-day-4-second-ashes-test-from-the-adelaide-oval/news-story/32db3e3d7529fbece5c13141eeb58bcf