(UTV | AUSTRALIA) – England are facing Ashes defeat after a dramatic second day of the third Test in Melbourne, which saw the tourists close on 31-4 – still 51 runs behind Australia – following inspired bowling from Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland.
England’s bowlers had earlier fought back admirably, reducing Australia to a lead of just 82 with James Anderson taking 4-33 in the hosts’ 267 all out.
But in a hostile final hour on a difficult pitch, Starc removed Zak Crawley and Dawid Malan in consecutive balls to leave England reeling at 7-2.
Haseeb Hameed battled to overcome the opening burst from Starc and Cummins, only to edge behind off debutant Boland before nightwatchman Jack Leach was bowled shouldering arms two balls later.
While another top order failure will take up much of the conversation, this was more a reflection of phenomenal, at times unplayable, Australian bowling.
The day started almost as dramatically as it ended as the England players were forced to wait before travelling to the ground because of positive Covid-19 tests in their travelling party.
Both sets of teams will do PCR tests before the start of the third day’s play on Monday.