ADELAIDE, Australia —
England were staring down the
barrel of another sorry defeat on Saturday, dismissed for 236 then forced to
watch as
Australia batted again and stretched their lead in the day-night
second Ashes Test in Adelaide.
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Joe Root and
Dawid Malan had survived the opening session of
day three unscathed, building a 128-run stand as they chased Australia's
imposing first-innings 473 for nine declared.
But it all came crashing down after the dinner break with
both players removed in quick succession, Root for 62 and Malan for 80,
sparking a collapse that saw England slump from 150 for two to 236 all out.
Making matters worse, they did so against a second-string
attack with
Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood both missing.
Stand-in Australian skipper
Steve Smith could have enforced
the follow-on, but chose to rest his bowlers and send in the openers to turn
the screw with two days left.
They negotiated some 75 minutes for the loss of
David Warner
for 13, needlessly run out after a disastrous mix-up with Marcus Harris, who
remains unbeaten on 21.
Nightwatchman Michael Neser was on two as Australia reached
45 for one, building their lead to 282.
Hostile pace from
Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon's dangerous
spin did the damage to England, complemented by Cameron Green, who bagged Root
for the second consecutive time.
Starc claimed 4-37 and Lyon 3-58.
"It's pretty frustrating and disappointing -- to lose
two wickets like we did on Friday night, then get ourselves back into a
position where we could get within touching distance of them," said Malan.
"Ultimately Rooty or myself should have gone on and got
a big hundred."
Australia 'hold the
cards'
England crashed by nine wickets in the first Test at
Brisbane and if they go 2-0 down in Adelaide the Ashes are as good as gone,
needing to win all three remaining Tests.
Australia bowled repeat maidens at the start of the second
session and Root looked increasingly uncomfortable against Green, who was
starting to find movement with the pink ball.
Having passed 1,600 Test runs in a calendar year — only the
fourth player in history to do so — Root poked at a Green delivery and got an
edge to Smith at slip, leaving him still searching for an elusive first-ever
century in Australia.
Malan soon followed, slashing at a Starc thunderbolt that
took a nick, again into Smith's safe hands. Malan has now scored nine Test 50s
but only converted one into a century.
"We let it meander a little bit through the first
session," Starc said, while heaping praise on all-rounder Green.
"He's a serious talent for a young kid, he's a great
addition to our bowling attack, he was extremely good in that session after the
break."
Starc added: "We hold all the cards in terms of when we
want to bowl and how big a lead we want to have, we've certainly got a few
options on the table."
Like in Brisbane, England's batting folded. Ollie Pope
survived a bat-pad review but only lasted two more balls, charging down the
wicket to Lyon and edging to Marnus Labuschagne at short leg on five.
Jos Buttler fell without scoring to Starc and England
trudged off to tea on 197 for six.
It didn't take long for Australia to clean up the rest with
Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson also undone by Lyon, and when Ben Stokes was
bowled by Green for 34, it was all but over.
Bright start
England had resumed at 17 for two after losing openers
RoryBurns (four) and Haseeb Hameed (six) to a fiery 40-minute spell from Starc,
Neser and Jhye Richardson under lights on Friday evening.
Root strode out on five, alongside Malan on one.
They had perfect early batting conditions on a flat Adelaide
pitch and Root settled, slamming a well-timed drive for four to boost his
confidence.
Starc was hit for 11 off his first over and the pair quickly
brought up their 50 partnership.
Malan completed his 50 with a single off Neser, while Root
hit Richardson to the boundary to reach his 52nd half-century.
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