Tim Paine sprints off the field as Australia declares during day four of the fourth Ashes test. Photo / AP
Tim Paine sprints off the field as Australia declares during day four of the fourth Ashes test. Photo / AP
The Ashes are within Australia's grasp after England imploded late on day four of the fourth test in the face of a Pat Cummins onslaught.
Australia declared at 186-6 with a lead of 382 about 40 minutes before stumps and enjoyed the perfect start to its bowling innings as Cummins struck twice in the first over to dismiss England's first innings heroes Rory Burns and Joe Root.
Burns scored 81 in the first dig but fell third ball of this innings, getting a leading edge that was caught by Travis Head at mid-off. Next ball Cummins knocked over Joe Root for a golden duck with an absolute beauty that clipped the top of the captain's off stump.
Woefully out-of-form Jason Roy survived the hat-trick ball but Australia will like its chances of taking the remaining eight wickets needed for victory as England heads into day five at 18-2.
A wearing surface will bring spinner Nathan Lyon into play and also help the quicks with some uneven bounce if they attack the stumps.
"For us it's pretty clear what we need to do tomorrow – quicks hit the good length, Gazza (Lyon) hit the rough as much as possible and when he bowls to left handers just pitch it on the stumps and try and hit the stumps as much as possible and bring LBW and caught behind the wicket into play," Steve Smith said after stumps.
"It's just about relaxing and going out and just enjoying it and hopefully executing our skills well enough to bowl England out tomorrow."
On the brilliant ball Cummins bowled to dismiss Root, Smith added: "It's the length we've been trying to hit on Root, particularly early in the innings.
"It's worked a few times. He's got out first ball a couple of times and early on a few times with a very similar ball. That's the sort of length we tried to hit. Fortunately Patty did it first ball.
England will have eight wickets in hand on the final day of the fourth Ashes test. Photo / AP
"I have no idea if it moved, kept low or what but I think it's the length that's the most important thing. That was a good length."
Cummins' electric opening over came after Australia declared in a rush in what former England captain David Gower described in commentary as a "shock move". The way the Aussies were chasing quick runs it always looked like Tim Paine's plan to have a crack at the English shortly before stumps but the sudden nature with which he pulled the pin mid-over when Stuart Broad was stalling is what surprised Gower, who expected the declaration to come a bit later.
England will take some hope into day five, having chased down 358 to win an incredible third test at Headingley but it has never chased 382 or more in the fourth innings to win a test so it will need to make history twice in as many matches to keep the Ashes alive.
If Australia claims victory in Manchester it will take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series with one match to play. A drawn series will see Australia retain the Ashes because it won the last contest Down Under in 2017/18.
Australia was able to build a sizeable second-innings advantage thanks to – you guessed it – that man Smith. After scoring a spectacular 211 in his first effort at Old Trafford, the former Aussie skipper broke England's spirits again with a rapid 82 off 92 balls.
It was his lowest score of the series from five knocks but was still enough to put Australia in a dominant position.
It was the ninth fifty in a row Smith has scored against England, equalling the all-time record for most consecutive half centuries ever scored against the same opponent. Smith also extended his record for most half centuries on the bounce in Ashes history – a figure which before this series stood at six.
Most consecutive 50+ scores vs a single team in Tests 9 - STEVE SMITH v ENG 9 - Inzamam-ul-Haq v ENG 8 - Clive Lloyd v ENG 8 - Jacques Kallis v PAK 8 - Kumar Sangakkara v BANG
There were some astonishing shots in his entertaining knock as Australia chased quick runs. He was playing baseball at times, clearing his front leg and swatting length balls across the line through the leg side and backing away and slicing balls to third man.
Smith was finally dismissed by Jack Leach, caught at long off 18 runs shy of his century and it was a knock Australia desperately needed after suffering another top order collapse.
David Warner was out for his third duck in a row and Marcus Harris was LBW for six as the Aussies crumbled to 16-2. Then when Marnus Labuschagne (11) and Travis Head (12) both fell cheaply the visitors were struggling at 44-4.
Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer were running hot, taking two wickets each out of the first four, but Smith, along with Matthew Wade, cooled their mood. Wade scored a valuable 34 as he and Smith combined for a 105-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Paine chipped in with an unbeaten 23 from 19 balls before giving his bowlers a shot.
Earlier, Mitchell Starc made a welcome return to form as he worked wonders with the second new ball in England's first innings. He had a disappointing outing on day three, going wicketless and leaking runs in his first match of the series, but roared back to life as he found his trademark swing with the new pill.
England started day four at 200-5 and Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow looked comfortable until Starc was brought into the attack. He bowled a brilliant in-swinger that ducked back in late to Bairstow (17) and cannoned into the stumps as the ball found a yawning gap between bat and pad.
The left-hander then got rid of danger man Ben Stokes for 26 when a perfect delivery that just nibbled away on off stump caught the outside edge and flew to Smith at second slip.
Starc returned to bowl Stuart Broad with a ball that seamed back a long way and rattled his pegs and he should have had Jack Leach LBW when the ball was going on to hit the stumps but the umpire kept his finger down and Australia had no reviews remaining, having burned them earlier in the innings.
England avoided the follow-on but Australia still ended with first-innings lead of 196 when Cummins bowled Jos Buttler for 41.
