Aus close in on win, England slip to 82-4

Root, who was struck hard in the groin by Starc in his penultimate over on the fourth day, edged the left-arm paceman after scoring 24 in the last over that left England stuttering at 82-4

Aus close in on win, England slip to 82-4

Australia’s Mitchell Starc (right) celebrates the wicket of England’s Joe Root during the second Test yesterday. Pic/AP

Mitchel Starc removed England captain Joe Root in the last over as Australia pushed for victory in the second Ashes Test after setting a record target of 468 runs on Sunday.

Root, who was struck hard in the groin by Starc in his penultimate over on the fourth day, edged the left-arm paceman after scoring 24 in the last over that left England stuttering at 82-4.

England need to create history to win. The highest successful fourth-innings Test run chase is the West Indies’ 418-7 against Australia in 2003. The highest successful fourth-innings chase in Adelaide is Australia’s 315-6 to beat England in 1901-02.

Struggling England opener Haseeb Hameed yet again flopped when Jhye Richardson found the glove of the opener in his first over and sent him packing without scoring.

Rory Burns (34) and Dawid Malan (20) shared 44 runs before Australia struck three times in the last session. Malan, who was dropped by captain Steve Smith in the lone slip off Nathan Lyon, didn’t last much longer and was out lbw to fast bowler Michael Neser in the next over.

Burns successfully overturned an lbw decision against him, but Smith plucked a magnificent low two-handed catch in the slips to overcome his earlier blemish when Richardson found the edge of the left-hander’s bat.

Earlier, Australia declared its second innings at 230-9 during the middle session. First-innings centurion Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head top-scored, making 51 apiece, with Cameron Green adding an unbeaten 33 as Australia sought quick runs in the evening session.

Brief scores
Aus 473-9 decl & 230-9 decl (M Labuschagne 51, T Head 51; J Root 2-27, D Malan 2-33, O Robinson 2-54 v England 236 & 82-4 (R Burns 34, J Root 24; J Richardson 2-17)

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