Ashes 2010-11, 4th Test: Jonathan Trott derails Australia with unbeaten 141
Jonathan Trott glorified the status of the Test game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, putting up a brilliant century against the Australians in the fourth match of the Ashes. The danger was already evident by how comfortable Trott
looked when he came out to face the Australian pace attack. The hosts were smashed all around the park, adding to the miseries of an already under-pressure Australian side. His unbeaten 141 runs at the MCG have already allowed the visitors to blaze past the
300-mark in posting a lead.
The English side looks confident after tearing through an out-of-form Australian batting line-up on the first day. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 were bowled out for 98 on the first day of the match, and England went on to make 157 runs by the close
of the day’s play. That alone was enough to put Australia under pressure, but Trott had more in store. He has been one of the most consistent performers of the English camp so far, and seems to be gaining more and more confidence with time. He served as an
anchor for his team, accompanied by Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior, taking England’s lead to 346 runs by the end of the day.
Australia’s Peter Siddle managed to bag three wickets earlier in the innings, but after that nothing worked in Australia’s favour. There was no stopping the onslaught of Trott and Prior, who remained not out on 75 runs at the end
of the day’s play. The unbeaten 158-run partnership between Prior and Trott is England’s second-highest partnership for the sixth wicket against the Australians in Australia.
The outstanding batting display by the visitors has erased hopes for the home team to stage any sort of comeback. It will take a miracle for Australia to save the game from here on in. The weather may have served the Australian
cause if the match had been in Brisbane, but it is unlikely that the rainy weather in Melbourne will be helpful at the MCG. The Australians only seemed frustrated on the ground today, as captain Ricky Ponting got into a heated argument with umpires Aleem Dar
and Tony Hill over a not-out decision in an appeal to dismiss Pietersen. Ponting was fined 40 percent of his match fee for the altercation.
Controversy aside, the day’s limelight belonged to Trott, whose 92-run partnership with Pietersen and 158-run unbeaten stand with Prior have set the stage for England taking home the urn. England will begin day three of the Boxing
Day Test at 444/5, continuing from an already established lead of 346 runs.
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