Last Update on: January 7th, 2018 at 01:25 pm
England hopes of saving the match received a major blow on the fourth afternoon at SCG, as they lost both their openers inside the first six overs.
Having to roast in temperatures exceeding 40 degrees early in the day, as Australia registered a total of seven for 649, England were striving at 25 for two at tea. On the other hand, Alastair Cook became the sixth Test batsmen to reach the 12000-run mark.
England lost another two wickets post tea making it even harder for them to save the match. Australian bowling attack was right on the money, as Lyon picked up two wickets well cushioned by Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.
Steven Smith had declared with Australia’s lead sitting at 303 runs after England had spent 193 overs on the field. Brothers Shaun and Mitchell Marsh had both reached their centuries on the fourth day, and the runs just kept piling up for the hosts.
Leg-spinner Mason Crane finished with 193 for one in 48 overs making him the most expensive bowler ever by an England bowler on Test debut, and the fifth most expensive among all-comers.
Brief Score: Australia: 7 for 649 dec (Khawaja 171, S Marsh 156, M Marsh 101, Smith 83, Warner 56) by 210 runs
England: 346 and 4 for 93 (Joe Root 42*) Nathan Lyon 2 for 31.
Here is how the Twitter reacted after Australia edge towards another victory:
https://twitter.com/chrispage83/status/949789861514326016
Day 4 SCG crowd of 33,285 means total #Ashes attendance is 849,828, beating 2006-07 figure of 819,627 and behind only 1936-37's 957,550 as biggest ever in Aust
— Daniel Brettig (@danbrettig) January 7, 2018
Wow, that is a stunning delivery by the 🐐 Nathan Lyon! #Ashes pic.twitter.com/PlfWdN498L
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/IanMChappelli/status/949560889778225152
Steve Smith and Moeen Ali both averaging 137 for the series. Good news for one, not the other #Ashes
— Martin Smith (@martinsmith9994) January 7, 2018
That's an incredible 12,000 Test runs for Alastair Cook 👏https://t.co/rfpti5NTBs #ashes pic.twitter.com/srqHzzzuEo
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 7, 2018
This English team shouldn’t take this series to heart. Cricket isn’t for everyone. #Ashes
— Titus O'Reily (@TitusOReily) January 7, 2018
Extra half hour available from 6pm if they reckon Australia can win tonight, remember. Things happen fast at the end of shit Test Matches. #Ashes
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) January 7, 2018
A heat stress tracker displays a temperature of 57.6 degrees celsius in the middle of the SCG during day four of the Fifth #Ashes Test #gettyimages #gettysport #cricket #weather #heat #hot #sydney pic.twitter.com/xPpu0pFIuS
— Ryan Pierse (@RyanPierse) January 7, 2018
NEWS | Entry to day five will be via gold coin donation to the @McGrathFdn with the @SCG Trust to donate a further $1 for every fan through the gates.
Read: https://t.co/0DpUeTtV4o #Ashes pic.twitter.com/NUlDbFU0JV
— Sydney Cricket Ground (@scg) January 7, 2018
Have two brothers ever scored a total of 4 centuries in a Test series before? #Ashes
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) January 7, 2018
Four bowlers taking 20+ wkts for a team in a series:
Ambrose, Walsh, Bishop & K Benjamin v Eng, 1995
McGrath, Lee, Clark & Warne v Eng, 2006/07
Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood & Lyon v Eng, 2017/18#Ashes— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) January 7, 2018
Yay, Cook out! Be a man, do the right thing, retire! #Ashes
— CS Amudhan (@csamudhan) January 7, 2018
Took Mitch Marsh a while to show his class with the bat at Test level. Important to stay patient sometimes. Steve Waugh scored 3 centuries in his first 46 Tests. #ashes
— Luke D'Anello (@LukeDAnello) January 7, 2018
Here is the newsfeed:
Glenn Maxwell Hopeful of Returning to the Squad before 2019 World Cup
