The Ashes: Joe Root out to last ball of day four as England’s hopes of draw in Adelaide take huge hit | Cricket News

Joe Root out to last ball of day four as Australia move six wickets from victory in second Test; England to resume on 82-4 in improbable chase of 468 with Ben Stokes at the crease; Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan and Rory Burns also dismissed on day four after Australia declare on 230-9

Joe Root’s last-ball dismissal is a hammer blow to England’s chances of salvaging the second Test in Adelaide

A pained Joe Root was out to the last ball of day four as England’s hopes of salvaging a draw in the day-night Ashes Test in Adelaide took a hammer blow.

Root (24) snicked Mitchell Starc (1-21) behind to leave England 82-4 in their second innings having been set a notional 468 for victory, with Australia now just six wickets away from a 2-0 series lead.

The England captain did not field for the opening 80 minutes on Sunday after being hit in the groin in the nets and his distress was exacerbated late in the day when he was pinned in a similar area by a delivery from Starc.

Root trudges off after edging behind to Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey

Root ploughed on but could not get through to stumps, meaning England’s chances of pulling off an unlikely rescue act seem to rest with Ben Stokes, who is three not out from 40 deliveries.

England also lost Haseeb Hameed for nought – the opener bagging the team’s 49th duck of the calendar year and the 13th by an opener – Dawid Malan for 20 and Rory Burns for a gritty 34.

There have been no draws in the previous 16 men’s day-night Test matches and Australia will expect to complete a positive result on the final day and extend their impeccable winning run in pink-ball Tests to nine matches – even though they have been scarred by Stokes before in Ashes cricket with his heroics at Headingley in 2019.

Rory Burns battled his way to 34 before nicking off under the lights

Day five could yet be a humdinger – but day four was headline-making in itself, with Root’s trip to the hospital for scans, Ollie Robinson bowling off-spin in Root’s absence, Stokes taking a stunning catch in the deep to dismiss Travis Head, and a Covid-19 outbreak hitting the press corps.

The day ultimately ended with Australia still in complete control as Starc’s removal of Root followed Jhye Richardson (2-17) having Hameed and Burns caught behind and Michael Neser (1-7) pinning Malan lbw.

Hameed edged an excellent rising delivery from Richardson in the second over as Australia struck with just four runs on the board, but his opening partner Burns shaped up pretty neatly, easily posting his highest score of the series, before he snicked Richardson through to Steve Smith at slip.

Australia had declared on 230-9 in their second innings, 20 minutes before tea, with the hosts having lost five wickets in the second session as they chased quick runs ahead of inserting England once again.

Head (51 off 54), Marnus Labuschagne (51 off 96), Alex Carey (6 off 6), Starc (19 off 20) and Richardson (8 off 4) each fell, with the latter’s dismissal triggering Australia’s second declaration of the game and leaving Cameron Green 33 not out from 43 deliveries.

Head – caught brilliantly on the run by Stokes at deep square – and Labuschagne had put on 89 from 105 balls for the fifth wicket after Australia lost 3-10 in an action-packed start to the day as they tumbled from their overnight 45-1 to 55-4, at which point the lead was 292.

Stuart Broad celebrates the wicket of Australia opener Marcus Harris

Nightwatchman Neser (3) came close to being run out by Hameed from the first ball, but did not last much longer, inside-edging a nip-backer from James Anderson onto his stumps.

Jos Buttler’s topsy-turvy Test then continued, with outstanding catches accounting for Marcus Harris (23) and Smith (6) – but a poor drop preventing Stuart Broad from dismissing Smith first ball for a golden duck.

Buttler’s blemish added to shelling Labuschagne twice in Australia’s first innings – although he has also snared three screamers, with Sunday’s dismissals of Harris and Smith as he leapt to his left, following a stunner diving to his right to remove Harris on day one of the game.

Jos Buttler took two excellent catches but was also guilty of another drop

Broad and Robinson benefitted from Buttler’s brilliance to collect the wickets of Harris and Smith respectively – Smith caught gloving down the leg-side during Robinson’s spell of seam bowling as the first 13 overs of the day yielded three wickets and just 14 runs.

The next 15 overs produced 79 runs as Head and Labuschagne upped the scoring rate, with Head’s pre-drinks four triggering a change in tempo and Stokes’ two expensive overs featuring wides, no-balls and boundaries.

Stokes did excel in the field, though, catching Head superbly and Labuschagne more routinely in the deep shortly after the batters had sealed their eighth and 12 Test fifties respectively.

Ben Stokes took a brilliant catch to dismiss Travis Head at deep square leg

Head was dismissed by Robinson, now back bowling seam after three overs of off-breaks before dinner, while Labuschagne’s exit handed part-time leg-spinner Malan his maiden Test wicket.

Malan struck again to remove Richardson amid Australia’s second lower-order, pre-declaration slog-fest of the match, while Root initially brushed off concerns over his fitness by bowling himself and picking up the wickets of Carey bowled and Starc caught.

Root was batting before the evening was out and passed Sir Alastair Cook’s record of 4,844 runs as England Test captain, before being hit by Starc and then dismissed by the same bowler as Australia moved closer to victory.