A sensational 189 from opener Zak Crawley helped England reach 384-4 on the second day of the fourth Ashes test on Thursday, with the host storming past Australia’s first-innings total to lead by 67.
With the weekend weather forecast promising rain, England knows it is in a race against time to get the win it needs to level the series and produced a blistering display of aggressive shotmaking that was too hot for a shellshocked Australia.
After taking the final two wickets to bowl Australia out for 317 at the start of the day, Crawley, ably supported by Moeen Ali (54) and Joe Root (84), became the series’ top runscorer with his huge knock.
England’s hero from the last test, Harry Brook, and captain Ben Stokes kept the boundaries flowing to extend the lead, and it will look to ramp things up even more on Friday as England looks to secure a quick-fire success.
Day 2 Scorecard
Australia 1st Innings (overnight: 299-8)
D. Warner c Bairstow b Woakes 32
U. Khawaja lbw b Broad 3
M. Labuschagne lbw b Ali 51
S. Smith lbw b Wood 41
T. Head c Root b Broad 48
M. Marsh c Bairstow b Woakes 51
C. Green lbw b Woakes 16
A. Carey c Bairstow b Woakes 20
M. Starc not out 36
P. Cummins c Stokes b Anderson 1
J. Hazlewood c Duckett b Woakes 4
Extras (b8, lb3, nb3) 14
Total (all out, 90.2 overs, 428 mins) 317
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Khawaja), 2-61 (Warner), 3-120 (Smith), 4-183 (Labuschagne), 5-189 (Head), 6-254 (Green), 7-255 (Marsh), 8-294 (Carey), 9-299 (Cummins), 10-317 (Hazlewood)
Bowling: Broad 14-0-68-2 (1nb); Anderson 20-4-51-1 (1nb); Woakes 22.2-4-62-5 (1nb); Wood 17-5-60-1; Ali 17-1-65-1;
England 1st Innings
Z. Crawley b Green 189
B. Duckett c Carey b Starc 1
M. Ali c Khawaja b Starc 54
J. Root b Hazlewood 84
H. Brook not out 14
B. Stokes not out 24
Extras (b7, nb11) 18
Total (4 wkts, 72 overs, 350 mins) 384
To bat: J Bairstow, C Woakes, M Wood, S Broad, J Anderson
Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Duckett), 2-130 (Ali), 3-336 (Crawley), 4-351 (Root)
Bowling: Starc 15-0-74-2 (1nb); Hazlewood 15-2-62-1 (2nb); Cummins 16-0-93-0 (4nb); Green 10-1-40-1; Head 6-0-48-0; Marsh 9-0-57-0 (4nb); Labuschagne 1-0-3-0
Match position: England lead by 67 runs with six first-innings wickets standing
