Adelaide, Dec 19: Mitchel Starc removed England captain Joe Root in the last over as Australia pushed for a win in the second Ashes test after setting a record target of 468 runs on Sunday.
Root, who was struck hard in the groin by Starc in his penultimate over on the fourth day, edged the leftarm paceman after scoring 24 in the last over that left England stuttering at 82-4.
England need to create history to win. The highest successful fourth-innings test run chase is the West Indies’ 418/7 vs Australia in 2003.
Struggling England opener Haseeb Hameed flopped again, when Jhye Richardson found the glove of the opener in his first over and sent him packing without scoring. Rory Burns (34) and Dawid Malan (20) shared 44 runs before Australia struck three times in the last session.
Malan, who was dropped by captain Steve Smith in the lone slip off Nathan Lyon, didn’t last much longer and was out lbw to fast bowler Michael Neser in the next over. Burns successfully overturned an lbw decision against him, but Smith plucked a magnificent low two-handed catch in the slips to overcome his earlier blemish when Richardson found the edge of the lefthander’s bat.
Earlier, Australia declared its second innings at 230-9. Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head top-scored, making 51 apiece. (AP)
Brief Scores
Australia
473/9 d & 230/9 d
(M Labuschagne 51,
T Head 51; J Root 2/27)
England
236 & 82/4
(R Burns 34;
J Richardson 2/17)
