Ashes: Joe Root and co struggle in Sydney as Australia look set to win fifth test
JOE ROOT just about stood firm on the deck to take the fifth Test into a fifth day.
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But all around him the waters were rising on England’s ship and at some stage tomorrow all of it will surely disappear under the waves.
It is virtually impossible to draw any other conclusion from the numbers of the penultimate day of a relentlessly dispiriting Ashes series.
Having resumed on 479-4, leading by 133, Australia piled on the runs in an increasingly muscular fashion until Steve Smith called in Tim Paine and Pat Cummins with the total 649-7.
In reply, Root and Jonny Bairstow reached the close 93-4, finishing unbeaten on 42 and 17, respectively.
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Along the way on another poor day there were hundreds for brothers Shaun and Mitch Marsh, who scored 156 and 101, respectively joining the Steve and Mark Waugh and Greg and Ian Chappell as brothers scoring hundreds in the same innings of a Test.
And there were humbling figures for young Mason Crane whose 1-193 was the third most conceded for England the fifth worst on a Test debut.
Crane’s numbers did not tell the whole story of his contribution which was not as bad as his figures suggested with no little skill on show and a relentelessly front-foot attitude.
But the same cannot be said of the rest of the numbers with England’s seam attack offering minimal penetration with either the new or the old ball (and with 193 overs bowled they went through three).
If you were looking for mitigating factors aside from the skill of the Australia batsmen, the conditions were gruelling on the hottest day in Sydney since 1939.
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At its peak the mercury topping 47.1 degrees in the city and was measured at 53.6 in the middle at the SCG.
England looked up against it in their attempts to take a draw from the contest and keep the Ashes at 3-0 rather than the 4-0 which seems likely.
Trailing by 303 when they were put back in during the middle session they were 25-2 at tea after Mark Stoneman (0) was lbw to Mitchell Starc and Alastair Cook (10) was foxed by a beauty from off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
James Vince fell shortly after tea, edging predictably behind to a wide first slip off Pat Cummins to leave England 43-3 and Dawid Malan became Lyon’s second victim as England slumped to 68-4.
Root and Bairstow got England to the close despite the England skipper having to have painkillers after being hit on his right index finger.
