Melbourne: Australia cruised to an eight-wicket win over demoralised England with more than a day to spare on Sunday to claim a 4-0 series lead and stand on the cusp of a whitewash.
Led by a century from opener Chris Rogers and a 136-run stand with Shane Watson, the Australians had few problems getting the required 201 runs before tea on the fourth day to seal England’s fate here.
England contributed to their own demise with two confidence-sapping dropped catches by skipper Alastair Cook early in the day to take all the steam out of the dispirited tourists.
The two fielding blunders from the team leader were psychological body blows for England and evidence of batsman Kevin Pietersen’s comments on Saturday in an interview that the tourists were “mentally fragile”.
England now face the monumental challenge of fighting off an Australian clean sweep of the series in the fifth and final Test, starting in Sydney on Friday.
“I think it’s a very special win. A lot of people thought we would come here complacent and not have the same willpower to continue to play the same way as in the first three Tests,” Australian captain Michael Clarke told reporters.
“For the first time in this series we found ourselves behind in the game and over the last couple of days we’ve been able to turn that around and win convincingly today, so I think the boys deserve a lot of credit.”
Playing on his home ground, left-hander Rogers claimed his second Test century after scoring 110 against England earlier this year at Durham. (AFP)
