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Australia continued their clinical dismemberment of England on day four of the Second Test to be on the brink of a near-unassailable 2-0 Ashes series lead.
Rain is not forecast anywhere near the Adelaide Oval on Monday and there is even less optimism on the radar that England can avoid their second comprehensive defeat on the final day of the Test.
They will resume on Monday afternoon at 4-82 with Ben Stokes unbeaten on three at the crease after Joe Root departed for 24 right on stumps.
England are still 386 runs away from what would be a miraculous win or the slightly less unlikely scenario of surviving three sessions with their fragile batting line-up to force a draw.
Monday marks the 4000th day since England last won a Test in Australia, the SCG clash at the start of 2011 which wrapped up their 3-1 series victory.
Joe Root gets hit on the box by Mitchell Starc. (Getty Images)
After electing not to enforce the follow-on despite leading by 237 runs on the first innings, Australia’s path to their ninth victory in day-nighters from as many starts didn’t perfectly go to plan on Sunday but they were never under any threat of surrendering their massive advantage in front of a crowd of 17,873.
Root started the day by copping a nasty blow to the abdomen while getting some throwdowns before the start of play. And the rest of his day didn’t get much better.
He was taken for scans but was cleared to return to the field after Stokes started the day in the field as skipper.
Root probably wished he didn’t come back late in the evening when a Mitchell Starc off-cutter struck him in the same region, sending him to his knees and delaying play for several minutes. Not surprisingly he lost his wicket to Starc a couple of overs later.
That has floored Root.
Ouch. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/JSbsdr9Z76
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 19, 2021
After Australia resumed on 1-45, nightwatchman Michael Neser (three) went early but more importantly, struggling opener Marcus Harris (23) didn’t last much longer.
Harris has made just 38 runs at 12.67 from four trips to the wicket and veteran Usman Khawaja or young guns Henry Hunt and Bryce Street loom as potential replacements for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG if the selectors have run out of patience with the Victorian left-hander.
Stand-in skipper Steve Smith should have been out first ball but was dropped by England’s erratic wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.
Smith then survived a line-ball LBW shout next ball despite England’s appeal for the third umpire’s closer look, further angering Stuart Broad.
Buttler somewhat made amends a short time later when he repeated his effort to dismiss Harris when he dived away to his left to make a one-handed catch to send Smith back to the pavilion for just six.
At 4-55, England had their tails up but Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head steadied the ship then accelerated the total with an 89-run partnership.
They both went down swinging for 51 while Alex Carey (six), Mitchell Starc (19) and Jhye Richardson (eight) opened their shoulders as Australia declared for the second time in the match.
All-rounder Cameron Green banked some extra time in the middle to remain unbeaten on 33 as Smith called the innings closed at 9-230, setting the tourists a target of 468.
Their first target was to get past the new pink ball without yet another early wicket – Haseeb Hameed failed that test when he nicked a steepling Jhye Richardson leg-cutter to be out for a duck off the last delivery of the second over.
His opening partner, Rory Burns, got set for the first time this series alongside Dawid Malan, who received a life on 19 when Smith grassed a regulation catch at slip off Nathan Lyon.
Smith breathed a huge sigh of relief the next over when Neser trapped Malan (20) in front to reduce England to 2-48 and end any hope Root had of putting his feet up for the night.
Lyon’s prodigious spin was causing ongoing alarm for Burns with the left-hander so bamboozled at one stage he could do nothing other than smile at his good fortune in not edging the fizzing pink ball to the close-in fielders.
Burns overturned a caught-behind verdict from Green’s bowling on 30 but was on his way four runs later when he edged Richardson to Smith, who made no mistake this time diving low to his right at second slip.
Cricket Australia has announced that entry to day five can be purchased by making a donation to Taverners Australia with the charity raising funds for cricketers from Indigenous backgrounds and players with disabilities.