Ashes 2nd Test Day 4 : Australia close on to a resounding victory

Another day of fantastic victory from the Aussies as Australia is on way to gain a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series, unless rain Gods play spoilsport.

The day started off with a bit of surprise, as Clarke declared seeing the overcast conditions, just 10 minutes before the start of play. Chasing a mammoth total of 531, English captain Alastair Cook was expected to guide England to safety. But on-fire Mitchell Johnson removed Cook in the 2nd over of the match, after he mistimed a hook to deep fine leg.

Just when Joe Root and Cranberry looked to handle the proceedings well, Cranberry was caught off Siddle in deep square leg by Lyon. Australia were already 2 down for twenty, and a collapse seemed inevitable. But Root and Pieterson had other ideas.

Root and Pieterson played cautiously, slowly recovering from initial jitters. Pieterson especially looked good, who mixed caution with aggression. Even the pitch looked dry, with no assistance to pace bowlers whatsoever.

While Siddle’s tactic of catching Pieterson off-guard didn’t work the second time around, he kept pressure on both the batsmen with a consistent out-side-off line and length. And finally his consistency proved rewards, after Pieterson dragged one to the stumps which just nipped back in. Pieterson was looking good at 53 and this somewhat proved to be the decisive moment of the day.

It seemed like Joe Root was waging a lone battle. His new partner Ian Bell had an un-comfortable time at the middle, and was dismissed after he miscued part-timer Steven Smith to long on. Already four down by lunch, England looked in real trouble.

But debutant Stokes hung in around with Root. After having some anxious movement against Johnson(who unsuccessfully reviewed for a LBW, similar to one like the first innings), Stokes looked settled and provided perfect support for Root.

But in the 65th over of the innings, Haddin took an excellent catch off Lyon to remove Root, who miscued the defensive shot after judging its bounce wrongly. He was out before a well-deserved century for 87, considered un-lucky by Australians. And whats more? He was out on the 387th ball of the innings (64.2). How unlucky can that be!

Prior came in and finally broke out his miserable form, who came into the groove after facing some screamers from Johnson. With the new ball around, the English were just delaying the in-evitable.

Just after four overs since taking the new ball, Ryan Harris dismissed Stokes for 28, who was caught at the slips by Clarke. With 6 down and tail to go, Australia were looking for the kill.

And in came Stuart Broad. The best Englishman on the tour, he was greeted with a lot of “boos” from the crowd. He, again, was severly tested by Johnson and co, surviving some real fast and accurate bouncers. Yet, he played a cameo of sorts at the end of the day, scoring 22.

The last over was bowled by Johnson, who tried hard to finish it off today itself. But Prior just managed to cling on, facing nervous movements while facing Johnson’s bouncers, and not to forget, some hardcore sledging. But eventually, the match is headed towards the final day, with England hoping for a miracle to save them from losing.

English ended their day with 247 on board, losing 6 wickets. Siddle was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets. The match is headed towards the 5th day with England left a mountain to climb, whereas Aussies just need Mitchell Johnson and co to finish off the match. But the last thing Australia would want is a draw like the NewZealand had, wherein the final day was washed off, even though they had just about 30 runs to win.