http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 are on the brink of losing the 4th Ashes test at Melbourne which would mean that England will hold on to the Ashes till the final test match. England are the current holders of the cup, and if England managed to win the test and Australia
level the series in the final test, England will get to keep hold of the Ashes.
As far as the 4th test is concerned, the writing was on the wall right on the first morning in Melbourne, when England knocked over Australia for just 98 runs in the first innings. From then on, it was down to England to make use of the advantage,
and that is precisely what the visitors did. Day 2 ended with England at 444 for the loss of 5 wickets and things were looking ominous for the Aussies.
The home side did have an early break on the 3rd morning when Matt Prior held out to Ponting off the bowling of Peter Siddle; Prior scored 85 runs. Fast bowler, Tim Bresnan, came in next but left after adding just 4 runs. He was caught behind
and was the 5th victim of Siddle. While on the other end, Jonathan Trott continued to add on runs. He got some good support from off spinner, Graeme Swann, who scored 22 runs before he also edged one to the keeper off the bowling of Ben Hilfenhaus.
England were finally bowled out for 513 runs. Jonatahn Trott remained unbeaten at 168. Peter Siddle took 6 wickets for the Aussies.
Australia started their 2nd innings with their backs to the wall and were trailing by 415 runs. Openers started off well and put on 53 runs for the first wicket. Phil Hughes was the first one to go after scoring 23 runs. He was run out while going
for an unnecessary double. The under pressure Australian captain Ricky Ponting was in next and he did show some glimpses of his old self but still was not able to last long. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 was the next to go; he was caught in front of the stumps by Tim Bresnan. Shane
Watson scored 54 runs. Ponting followed soon- he was cleaned up by Bresnan for just 20 runs. The collapse continued as the most dependable Australian batsman and the highest scorer for the series, Michael Hussey, was sent back on naught. James Anderson accounted
for Hussey as he edged one to the slips.
104 for 4 soon became 134 for 5 when Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 was also sent packing by England. It was Graeme Swann who got into the act and had the vice captain caught in the slips for just 13 runs.
Leg Spinner, Steven Smith, hung around for a while and scored 38 runs before he was cleaned up by Anderson.
At close of play, England were just 4 wickets away from a spectacular win in the Boxing Day test match. Australia ended the day at 169 for the loss of 6 wickets. The hosts need 246 more runs to avoid an innings defeat and to keep their chance of retaining
the ashes alive.
Tags: