Ashes 2019: Steve Smith's 'freakish' summer rolls on as Australia consolidate grip on the urn

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  • Steve Smith in a league of his own.

    The Ashes urn was firmly in the sights of Australia after an eventful day four at Manchester in the penultimate Test against England.

    Tim Paine and his men were eight wickets away from victory in the fourth Test after reducing England to 18-2 in the second innings with the hosts chasing 383, but more realistically, hoping to bat out a draw.

    England were earlier bundled out for 301 runs in the first innings before another Steve Smith special helped Australia pile on 186-6 in the second innings at Old Trafford.

    With the weather forecast for Sunday looking bright and clear, the hosts well and truly have their backs against the wall and will need another Headingley miracle if they are to keep the Ashes alive.

    Here, we look at the talking points at the end of an eventful Day Four at Old Trafford.

    Cummins, Starc clean up England tail

    Having started the day at 200-5, England were able to add 101 run more to their total to just about avoid the follow-on. It took a cameo of 41 runs from Jos Buttler to help England avoid the follow on after a strong opening session dominated by Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.

    Starc put England on the back foot by dismissing Jonny Bairstow and Headingley hero Ben Stokes in quick succession before Cummins ended Jofra Archer’s stay at the stroke of lunch. The two Australia pacers finished the job after the lunch interval with the dismissals of Stuart Broad and Buttler who was the last England batsman to fall after attempting a wild slog against Cummins.

    Cummins’ three wickets in the innings saw the Aussie pacer further consolidate his grip as the leading wicket-taker in the series and it only got better for him late in the day in England’s second innings.

    The 26-year-old found Rory Burns’ outside edge in just the third delivery of the innings before he cleaned up Joe Root’s off-stump with a peach of an in-swinger with the next ball to leave England reeling.

    No dice for Warner as Broad piles on the misery

    David Warner will perhaps be desperate to get on the first flight back to Sydney after his horror Ashes against Stuart Broad showed no signs of stopping.

    The Australian opener bagged his third consecutive duck on the tour after being caught plumb on the pads just six deliveries into the second innings. It consigned the southpaw to his first-ever pair in Test cricket and he could only offer a resigned smile as he made the long walk back to the pavilion amidst a chorus of boos from the English supporters.

    It just hasn’t worked out for Warner in the Ashes – despite his stellar 2019 World Cup campaign – with the opener now averaging (9.87) less than England No11 Jack Leach in the series.

    He has now been dismissed six times in eight innings by Broad in the series and it will be a surprise if he is not dropped for the final Test at the Oval.

    Smith’s freakish summer rolls on

    Having conceded a 196-run first-innings lead to Australia, England made a roaring start to the ball Stuart Broad dismissing both openers in no time. The dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head soon after added to Australia’s woes as England sniffed a small opening to fight their way back into the game.

    That joy was short-lived for the hosts with Steve Smith once again proving to be a brick wall. The Australia batsman followed up his double ton in the first-innings with a rapid knock of 82 that put the visitors firmly on top at Old Trafford.

    His 105-run stand with Matthew Wade snuffed out any minor hopes England would have held and he has now extended his run tally to 671 for the series in just five innings. A fourth ton of the series was on the cards for Smith before he holed out in the deep, but his stellar counter-attack in the final session had firmly shut all door on England.

    His average in the series is now a whopping 134.20 and he is already the leading Test run-scorer of 2019, despite other batsmen having a seven-month head-start on him.

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