The sight of an Ian Bell century has become nauseatingly repetitive this summer if your are an Australian fan but England would be pleased as a punch going into the fourth day of the Chester-le-Street Test match. We’ll have live scores and commentary from 8.00pm AEST.
Bell came in to bat with the English side reeling at 3/49 and Ryan Harris breathing fire but his calm demeanour and aggressive run-scoring proved to be a heady cocktail that Australia failed to counter.
By the time the stumps were draw, England had lost a couple more wickets but gotten their lead up to more than 200. And with Bell still at the crease, the final Australian target could get to unmanageable proportions for Australia.
Of course, what they will hope for is for the English innings to go the same way as their own at the start of the third day’s play.
Australia resumed at 5/222 and crashed to 270 all out, despite the presence of century-scorer Chris Rogers and Brad Haddin at the crease.
Graeme Swann struck twice to remove both these overnight batsmen and then the new ball took care of the rest of the tail.
From what looked like an assured lead of around 100, Australia had to be content with only 32 runs in front.
However they fought back well through Ryan Harris, who continued his good form and sent back the English top three.
Joe Root was bowled off a jaffa, Alastair Cook swished one outside the off stump to be caught behind while Jonathon Trott fell to the ‘leg-side trap’ – all off the bowling of Harris.
Kevin Pietersen’s 44 and Jonny Bairstow’s 28 may not be the really big knocks they would have wanted but helped add a total of 185 runs following the early wickets.
By stumps, England had done well to take a commanding second innings lead and unless they fall in a heap, Australia are staring at a biggish score.
As has been on show in this Test so far, batting isn’t the easiest and there are signs that Graeme Swann could reap a lot of benefit from the pitch on the fourth and the fifth day.
In that case, anything about 250 will be a tough target to chase for Australia.
That said, the pitch at Trent Bridge was a more difficult one and Australia got themselves to almost 300 in the fourth innings. That should give them some confidence going into their final essay later on the fourth day.
The game’s in favour of England at the moment but only just. Can Australia reclaim it back?
Follow the live score and blog of the third day’s play of the fourth Test from 8 pm AEST. You can join me for this live blog and post your comments below.
James
Guest
lots one by 14 runs which included a debutante number 11 scoring 98, lost one by 347, lots another by 74 runs. thats not that close really. the old trafford test australia was def on top but most 5 test series have that drawn test, especially in england with that beautiful/horrid weather depending on how the teams are going. australia played alot better and england alot worse than we thought but 3-0 is not that unfair 3-1 would be perfectly fair but 3-0 is far from unfair.
James
Guest
how much of the ball do you think has to hit the stumps for the bails to come off? have you ever played cricket or seen a ball going at 80 and what even 1% of the ball does to the bails? (hint: they come off)
James
Guest
plus when the ball is going that quick it really does not have to barely grave the stumps for the bails to come off.
James
Guest
same reason teams play so well against manchester united, barcelona etc. rise to the occasion.
James
Guest
what australia would give for that right now. if this were an state sport, how many players would australia swap to england to get bell?
James
Guest
no no no dont be a convert, warner does this every 10 innings or so. he looks great scores lots of runs, good strike rate, careful at times too though. then for the other 9 innings he is terrible.
Chris
Guest
England haven't been at their best, or even close to it i at times. But they've found a way to win.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Always a pleasure...Thanks to you too for following the blog. Have a good night.
Chris
Guest
God point. Chapeau to the Aussies fans who stayed up. Not fun when you lose, but worthy of respect. Thanks as ever for your work.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Late it is - but not as late as in Australia for some of the others here. An early day tomorrow, but a decent Test match compensates for the lack of sleep. Congratulations on that win!
Jules
Roar Rookie
Yes, the extra experience in the English conditions and a slice of luck has helped England over the line. I was brought up on Taylor & Waugh captaincy, so certainly wouldn't put England's victory down to nous. In fact, I think with a better captain than Cook, you would have exploited our batting frailties better and won the series much more easily.
Jules
Roar Rookie
C'mon mate, we're about 100 runs, a few lucky breaks and a few less rain showers away from leading a series we'd been written off in 3-1 and you're saying we've got terrible issues. You make it sound like we've been pasted like we were in India. In everything but the results, we've massively over-exceeded expectations. Credit should be given to this group where it's due.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Still waiting for the presentation. The English players having a pint or three in their balconies. Clarke looks quite down and dejected. Says they will work harder going into the fifth Test. Cook credits the crowd for supporting the side throughout. Compliments Broad for his spell of bowling. Bresnan comes in for some praise for his run-stalling and earlier, his run-scoring. So does Ian Bell, his third Ashes century this series. Broad's the man-of-the-match. "Had to fight hard after tea. Once the ball got moving sideways, we executed our plans better. Hard to start off as a batsman on that pitch." That's it then from me, a week off for the players (and for me, I am off out of town and will post those pictures when I get back, on my Twitter account @suneerchowdhary, do follow me there!) Ciao! Hope to see you around on August 21.
Chris
Guest
It must be late for you Suneer? You must be shattered.
Chris
Guest
Do you think that Oscar? i thought Australia fought really, really hard and gave themselves a shot on a tough pitch. I guess it depends how you view it, but I thought there were positive signs there.
Oscar Oldskool
Guest
Agree Jules and congratulations England and I hope you party for a week, you deserve to.
Colin N
Guest
Which decisions went against Australia at Trent Bridge apart from Broad?
Chris
Guest
Always thought the matches would be tight, and they mostly have been. England's superior nous and experience has got them over the line.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
So that's that then, the fifth and the final Test of the series will be of academic interest only (although 4-0 or 3-1 will look much better for either side!) Australia were cruising in their chase of 299, getting to 2/168 at one point. Bresnan, then, got rid of Dave Warner for 71 and the rest of the side fell away for a further addition of 56 runs. Nine wickets fell in that extended last session which is something of a procession and Stuart Broad took six of them. He bowled like a champion towards the end of the innings. Earlier today, Australia bagged the remaining five English wickets but not before Bresnan had thwacked 45, following an lbw decision going for him that has raised many eyebrows. Close calls against Watson and Haddin too but in the end the Hawk-Eye showed the ball was hitting some part of the stump and the umpire's decision was in favour of the bowler before that.
Oscar Oldskool
Guest
Good on you Suneer and thanks for a job very well done. For Australia to capitulate in such a feeble manner, there's gotta be some serious dissension within the team. Gotta sort it out, Canada would beat us the way we're travelling