MELBOURNE — Australia moved within 201 runs of victory in the fourth Ashes Test with all 10 wickets in hand after routing England's second innings for 179 to wrest back the momentum on a roller-coaster fourth day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground Saturday. Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon took 5-50 as England lost its last five wickets after tea for the addition of only six runs, its batsmen squandering the advantage their bowlers had fought hard for in the morning. Chris Rogers was on 18 with fellow opener David Warner on 12 as Australia reached 30 for no loss at the close of a blustery day's play in front of a crowd of more than 63,000. Though a fourth consecutive Test victory would seem Australia's for the taking, no team has ever chased down more than South Africa's 183 in 2008 since the first use of drop-in wickets at the MCG in 1996. But England's demoralizing batting performance and its failure to breach Australia's openers in the last hour suggest it faces an uphill task to prevent the hosts from taking a 4-0 lead in the five-Test series. England had bowled Australia out for 204 in the first hour of the day to take a slender 51-run lead, and pushed it out to 105 at lunch without loss. From there, the wheels fell off spectacularly, with two separate collapses before and after tea seeing England lose a total of eight wickets for the addition of only seven runs. England captain Alastair Cook managed his third half-century and became the youngest cricketer at 29 to reach 8,000 Test runs, but his wicket for 51 was duly followed by the loss of three more for one run in the session. England still held a lead of 182 after tea with six wickets in hand, but Lyon combined with paceman Mitchell Johnson to mow through the tail. Lyon struck to remove Ben Stokes to end a 44-run partnership with Kevin Pietersen, the spinner coaxing the all-rounder into a clumsy slog straight to Steven Smith at mid-on. Jonny Bairstow added a quick-fire 21 before being well caught by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin with a flat-footed drive off a wider delivery from Johnson, the bowler's 30th wicket of the series. Lyon struck again the second ball after drinks to bowl Tim Bresnan for a duck, and three balls later had Stuart Broad out for zero caught by Australia captain Michael Clarke in the slips. Pietersen was out for 49 slogging Lyon to long-off before Johnson wrapped up the innings by trapping Monty Panesar in front for another duck. Johnson had earlier continued his fairytale series by swooping in at mid-off to throw the stumps and run out Joe Root for 15. Two balls later, Ian Bell was out for a first-ball duck, inexplicably spooning an innocuous Lyon delivery straight to a disbelieving Johnson at mid-off, sparking thunderous roars at the stadium. Australia holds an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series. The final match starts in Sydney on Jan. 3. — Reuters
Scorecard England (1st innings) 255 Australia (1st innings) Rogers c Pietersen b Bresnan 61 Warner c Bairstow b Anderson 09 Watson c Bairstow b Stokes 10 Clarke b Anderson 10 Smith c Bell b Broad 19 Bailey c Bairstow b Anderson 00 Haddin c Bairstow b Anderson 65 Johnson c Anderson b Bresnan 02 Harris c Root b Broad 06 Siddle c Bresnan b Broad 00 Lyon not out 18 Extras (lb4) 04 Total (all out; 82.2 overs) 204 Falls: 1-19 (Warner), 2-36 (Watson), 3-62 (Clarke), 4-110 (Smith), 5-112 (Rogers), 6-122 (Bailey), 7-151 (Johnson), 8-162 (Harris), 9-164 (Siddle), 10-204 (Haddin). Bowling: Anderson 20.2-4-67-4, Broad 20-6-45-3, Stokes 15-4-46-1, Bresnan 18-6-24-2, Panesar 9-2-18-0. England (2nd innings) Cook lbw b Johnson 51 Carberry lbw b Siddle 12 Root run out (Johnson) 15 Pietersen c Harris b Lyon 49 Bell c Johnson b Lyon 00 Stokes c Smith b Lyon 19 Bairstow c Haddin b Johnson 21 Bresnan b Lyon 00 Broad c Clarke b Lyon 00 Anderson not out 01 Panesar lbw b Johnson 00 Extras (b5, lb6) 11 Total (all out; 61 overs) 179 Falls: 1-65 (Cook), 2-86 (Carberry), 3-86 (Root), 4-87 (Bell), 5-131 (Stokes), 6-173 (Bairstow), 7-174 (Bresnan), 8-174 (Broad), 9-179 (Pietersen), 10-179 (Panesar). Bowling: Harris 10-1-34-0, Johnson 15-5-25-3, Lyon 17-3-50-5, Siddle 15-6-46-1, Watson 4-2-13-0. Australia (2nd innings) Rogers not out 18 Warner not out 12 Extras 00 Total (0 wkt; 8 overs) 30 To bat: Shane Watson, Michael Clarke b Anderson, Steve Smith, George Bailey, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon. Bowling: Anderson 3-1-5-0, Broad 3-0-16-0, Panesar 1-0-4-0, Stokes 1-0-5-0.
