When the alarms of Pat Cummins and his teammates buzz on the morning of day four of the fourth Ashes Test, the skipper and his men will peer out their windows and hope to see rain drenching Manchester.
The Australians are desperate for rain to wash out the Old Trafford Test after the pulverising batsmanship of Jonny Bairstow and lethal pace of Mark Wood dragged the tourists into an even more dire position than they had found themselves in at the start of the day.
When stumps on day three were called with Marnus Labuschagne on 44 and Mitchell Marsh one, the Australians were 4-113 and still trailing by 162 runs.
Australia had set about digging in and soaking up as many balls as possible after England’s rampant display in the second innings of the match, but Usman Khawaja (18), David Warner (28), Steve Smith (17) and Travis Head (one) all failed to withstand the English attack.
Chris Woakes ensured Warner’s awful stretch of form continued when he got the veteran left-hander to chop on, while Wood claimed the wickets of Khawaja, Smith and Head.
The searingly quick right-armer removed Khawaja when he drew a faint outside edge, before scalping Smith and Head with short balls.
Smith chased a short ball down leg, got a tickle on it and was caught by Bairstow, before Head got tangled up in a horrible position four overs later, flinching on his back foot and popping a catch to Ben Duckett behind square on the off side.
MORE TO COME.
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