Just 40 overs were possible on Day 4 at The Oval as rain once again descended to bring a premature end to proceedings, but Australia could hardly have dominated them more.
Set a daunting run chase of 384 to claim a 3-1 series win and break a 22-year victory drought in Ashes series in England after taking just 11 balls to wrap up the hosts’ innings, half-centuries from David Warner (58) and Usman Khawaja (69) saw the visitors take more than a third off the target without the loss of a single wicket before the heavens opened to wash out the second half of the day.
With the pitch showing little assistance for England and spinner Moeen Ali still hampered by his groin injury, though able to send down a few tentative overs, Australia’s 0/135 heading into the final day leaves them needing 249 for a stunning comeback win – still a significant target, but now whittled down into the realms of eminently achievable.
Should they pull it off, it would be the eighth-highest successful run chase in Test history, and second-best in an Ashes match behind the famous 404 Don Bradman’s Invincibles ran down during the fabled 1949 series. One suspects Warner and Khawaja have plenty more work ahead to keep Australia on target, and prevent the clumps of wickets that have prevented them from capitalising on other strong starts throughout this series.
The hosts, meanwhile, seemed mystified by how to break the stand, with Ben Stokes surprisingly choosing not to use enforcer Mark Wood until the 32nd over, by which time the opening partnership had swelled to 99 with the pair both on track for half-centuries.
Whether that was due to the speedster’s intense workload throughout the last three Tests or a desire to have spinners Joe Root and Moeen rough the ball up to attempt to find reverse-swing later, the move backfired, and left England the happier of the two sides to be given a chance to regroup and reset when the downpour arrived.
With the forecast expected to be brighter, though not without a chance of more rain, for Day 5, there should be plenty of time for Australia to forge on for victory, though the deluge has given them a chance of holding out for a draw should wickets stymy their winning chances.
England will content themselves with knowing they are still just 10 good balls away from squaring the series 2-2, with a vulnerable Australian middle order to target once the opening stand is broken; no doubt Stuart Broad in particular, entering his final day of Test cricket, will be keen to add another game-changing spell to his career-defining list of crucial Ashes turns.
It was Broad who began the day’s proceedings; having announced his retirement at stumps on Day 3, the veteran had perfectly timed it so as to allow a standing ovation and an Australian guard of honour as he walked out alongside long-time new ball partner James Anderson as the overnight batters.
In a mood for fun, Broad would delight the crowd by clobbering Mitchell Starc for six over mid-wicket in the day’s first over; it would prove the final ball he’d ever face as a Test cricketer.
His final ball faced in Test Cricket? ????
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 30, 2023
A MASSIVE six!@StuartBroad8 ???? pic.twitter.com/jHg99Q2nAi
Facing the spin of Todd Murphy, Anderson’s repeated attempts to reverse-sweep finally brought him undone, missing a fuller offering from the off-spinner to be trapped plumb in front, umpire Joel Wilson eventually raising his finger after a lengthy contemplation to bring the Victorian a well-deserved four-wicket haul.
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Anderson’s inevitable review would find umpire’s call on the ball hitting the top of the stumps, a touch ironic given the repeated ball-tracker misfortunes Australia had suffered on Day 3; nevertheless, it meant Broad would finish as one of just two men – the other West Indian Wayne Daniel in 1984, also against Australia – to hit his final ball in Test cricket for six since ball-by-ball data was recorded.
As the outgoing veteran was once again cheered as he raced from the field to prepare to bowl, England’s 395 had given Australia a daunting chase of 394 to prevent a tied series.
But entering what may have, in the event of a failure, proved to be his swansong as well, Warner appeared liberated by the simplicity of the task ahead: facing his nemesis Broad in the innings’ first over, the much-maligned left-hander got himself going with a serene cover drive for four when the seamer overpitched.
Khawaja, too, appeared to have learned from his overly cautious first innings on Day 2, where survival rather than scoring was the focus: clipping Anderson, celebrating his 41st birthday, off his pads through mid-wicket and running hard for a three to open his account, the change of intent clear for all to see.
With movement in the air and off the pitch once again in short supply despite the clouds beginning to gather, nervous moments were few and far between, a Warner edge off Broad that landed well short of Ben Duckett at third slip about as close as things got, and summarising his change of luck from Headingley where both early nicks went to hand.
Chris Woakes’ introduction into the attack has proved successful for Stokes since his recall in Leeds, but not so on this occasion, the metronomic seamer again proved difficult to get away, aside from one half-volley crunched through cover for four by Warner, but was only granted four tight overs before the captain shuffled his attack again.
At the other end, bowling for the first time in the Test after straining his groin while batting on Day 1, was Moeen: while there was more in the wicket for the spinners than the pacemen, a sharp turner beating Warner all ends up and bisecting Jonny Bairstow and keeper Joe Root for four byes, there were also the regular loose balls permanently pockmarking the veteran’s spells, a rank long hop pulled for four by Warner to ease the pressure.
Not all such dross was punished so brutally, the 50 stand arriving via a Warner miscue as he attempted to slap a wide ball through covers; still, it marked another solid start for the Australian openers in a series in which facing the new ball has proved far less hazardous than in 2019.
Five overs was all Stokes was willing to risk Moeen for, turning to Root in the hopes his golden arm would provide the breakthrough; all it did, though, was get Khawaja going too, twin late cuts to the vacant third man boundary for four taking Australia to lunch well set at 0/75.
Any fears that the break would disrupt their concentration were dispelled as the pair were content to get their eyes in again by knocking around singles to begin the second session, taking until the fifth over for another boundary as Warner deftly steered Anderson to deep third.
While the occasional ball provided mischief, particularly from Root as the pitch provided bite and turn, even close escapes were few and far between; indeed, the greatest danger Warner faced was an accidental beamer from Anderson, which he somehow managed to steer over the slips cordon for four while taking evasive action.
Having attempted to conjure reverse swing by scuffing up the ball with the spinners on, Stokes finally had no choice but to introduce his strike man Wood; immediately, he’d discomfit Khawaja, though an edge played down with soft hands through the slips cordon would bring him to his half-century, nicely bookending what has been a career-defining series for the reborn opener.
As if to prove his luck was in, a low skidder from Root shot past the stumps and through Bairstow’s legs for another boundary, Wilson mistakenly believing Khawaja had hit it and awarding him the runs that took him back past Zak Crawley as the series’ highest scorer.
Having looked the more set of the two, Warner’s 50 would arrive in short order, flat-batting Wood over deep mid-wicket and into the deep where a diving Harry Brook save prevented another boundary, but not a milestone that has likely earned the veteran the chance to retire on his own terms during the upcoming home summer.
If it wasn’t already, Australia’s control of the run chase was made official as the pair took Root for three boundaries in an over to force Stokes to look elsewhere; with Warner and Khawaja both dispatching a late cut and the former heaving a far looser stroke over mid-wicket and into the vacant deep, the pair were in command.
David Warner. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The only other close call of note had nothing to do with their wickets, Khawaja looking to duck a Wood bouncer that skidded on and crashed into his helmet, forcing a delay for the mandatory concussion test.
As if to prove his fitness, Khawaja would again dab a deliberate glide through the gap in the cordon for four two balls after the blow; clearly the most dangerous of England’s bowlers, Wood would finish the over with a searing bouncer at 114 km/h before eliciting a leading edge off the left-armer that flew safely through the covers for two more.
Just one more over could be bowled, from Woakes, before a drinks break proved unending as the rain arrived to wash out the rest of the day, and leave the Test, and the series, intriguingly poised.
On the one hand, Australia have two set batters in Khawaja and Warner, have lost no wickets, and now in essence are chasing 249 for victory – less than they successfully ran down at Edgbaston to begin the series, and indeed than England completed at Headingley.
In England’s favour is a pitch showing definite turn for Root and Moeen, which could prove troublesome to new batters later on in the day, while the menace of Wood looks set to once again play a crucial role.
First, though, the hosts will have to break the opening stand: with one batter looking to silence his doubters and the other to cap of a series in which any remaining ones of his have well and truly disappeared, a remarkable Australian heist could well be in the offing.
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