Ashes 2017/18: Jittery England Tumble early on; Australia Close in for 4-0 series Wrap-up

At stumps on day four of the fifth and final Ashes 2017-18 Test in Sydney on Sunday (January 7), in the second innings, England are struggling at 93 for four after facing 46 overs so far, as skipper Joe Root is on the mission to steady the sinking ship alongside wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow.

Struggling England is still trailing by 210 runs in second innings and Australia requires another six wickets on the fifth day – to eye for the scoreline of 4-0 in the gruelling ongoing series.

For Australia, go-to-spinner Nathan Lyon was the pick of the bowlers who bagged two crucial wickets after giving away 31 runs in his 19 overs.

Shouldering the responsibility, the 27-year-old Root, who has also received a blow on his hand, has faced 124 balls – to score unbeaten 42, and Bairstow at the other end has managed to post 17 off 45 balls, as both are aiming to stay at the crease to save the Test.

Interestingly, Root is yet to register a boundary after facing 20.4 overs during his hard-fought innings after visitors lost wickets at regular intervals.

For the fifth wicket, Root and Bairstow went on to add 25 runs which further saw them seeing off the final session of the penultimate day of the traditional series’ dead rubber after England was four for 68 in 33.4 overs.

England’s second innings start was utterly miserable which saw left-handed opening batsman Mark Stoneman getting trapped in front of the stumps when he was batting on nought. After adding 28 runs for the third-wicket alongside Dawid Malan, James Vince was caught by Steven Smith on the bowling of Pat Cummins after a 51-ball 18.

In 34th over, Malan was removed by Lyon when the ball wrapped the pad of former to see visitors losing their fourth wicket of the innings.

However, it was off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who was introduced early on to dismiss big fish, Alastair Cook when the latter was bowled. The left-hander Cook faced 20 balls for his ten runs which saw England was two down on 15 in 5.5 overs.

Moreover, Stoneman was dismissed by speedster Mitchell Starc on the final delivery of third over of England’s second innings after facing nine balls when the visitors’ score was five on the scoreboard.

Earlier, following the magnificent centuries from Marsh brothers in the form of Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh, Australia posted the mammoth total of 649 for seven in the second innings after facing a marathon of 193 overs.

Australia added 149 runs on day four which saw them losing three wickets before skipper Steven Smith decided to call wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine (38 off 52) and Pat Cummins (24 off 16) back to the dressing room.

Pertinently, Australia took the staggering first innings lead of 303 which subsequently mount pressure on the visiting batting line-up.

Brilliant show with the bat, Shaun was dismissed on 156 off 291 balls when Mark Stoneman affected a run-out, as Mitchell was the first wicket of the morning when he was clean bowled by Tom Curran on 101 off 141 balls. Mitchell Starc post 11 off ten balls before James Vince caught him on the bowling of off-spinner Moeen Ali.

Shaun registered 18 boundaries and Mitchell’s innings was comprised of 15 fours and a maximum.

Here’s what Twitter has a say regarding the fourth day of Ashes in Sydney: Ashes 2017/18: Twitter Reacts as Australia Clinch Closer to Victory

Follow up Ashes reports, stats and much more here: Australia Vs South Africa