England were on the verge of 2-0 down in the five-match Ashes series after Joe Root fell to Mitchell Starc in the final over of Day 4 of the second Test match against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. Chasing an improbable 468, England closed the day on 82/4. They need another 386 on the final day to level the series – a prospect as unrealistic as batting out the entire day with six wickets in hand.
Root was unable to the field at the start of the day after being hit during the warm-up. He went to the hospital for a scan and was declared fit. He was struck again in the groin during the 41st over of the England innings, by Starc. In the following over, from Starc, the last of the day, he was caught behind for 24.
Earlier, Australia, despite losing three wickets for seven runs in the first session, moved from 45/1 to declare on 230/9. With 51 runs apiece, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head were the architects of the recovery. Cam Green (33*) added useful runs with the tail to set a gargantuan target before Steven Smith declared the innings an hour before tea.
England lost Haseeb Hameed without scoring in the second over of the innings, to Jhye Richardson (2-17). Dawid Malan (20) and Rory Burns (34) fought hard under floodlights, but neither lasted long enough. Ben Stokes is there in the middle, having scored three runs from 40 balls.
Brief scores: Australia 473/9 decl. (Marnus Labuschagne 103, Ben Stokes 3-113) and 230/9 (Travis Head 51; Joe Root 2-27) lead England 236 (Dawid Malan 80; Mitchell Starc 4-37) and 82/4 (Rory Burns 34; Jhye Richardson 2-17) by 385 runs.