Sydney: Australia were closing on an innings victory with England fighting a desperate rearguard on 93 for four at stumps on the fourth day of the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG here, Sunday, still 210 runs from forcing their hosts to bat again.
Brothers Shaun (156, 291b, 18×4) and Mitchell Marsh (101, 141b, 15×4, 2×6) had earlier both scored centuries on a scorching morning at the SCG to put Australia in a position where they could declare on 649 for seven in the second session.
England, already 0-3 in the series with the urn relinquished, had toiled in the field in temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius with little success and their luck did not change when they came out to bat.
Openers Alastair Cook (10) and Mark Stoneman (0) went cheaply inside the first six overs of their second innings with James Vince (18) and Dawid Malan (five) following in the final session. Skipper Joe Root (42 batting, 124b) despite playing with an injured finger, and Jonny Bairstow (17 batting) will take England’s fight to save the Test into the final day.
The Marsh brothers had earlier joined the Chappell siblings Ian and Greg (1972) and the Waugh twins Mark and Steve (2001) in scoring centuries in the same innings in an Ashes Test. The brothers both scored their second centuries of the series in a brilliant 169-run partnership that put the hosts in total command.
Brief scores: England 346 and 93 for 4 (Joe Root 42 batting); Australia 649 for seven declared (Shaun Marsh 156, Mitchell Marsh 101). Match to continue.
In elite club
Sydney: England’s Alastair Cook became the sixth batsman to score 12,000 Test runs with a single off his pads after lunch on the fourth day of the fifth Ashes Test against Australia here Sunday. The opener, playing his 152nd Test, joined Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Kumar Sangakkara in accumulating 12,000 runs or more over his career.
Reuters