Australia and England contrived to pack almost an entire Test match into a single, breathless day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where 20 wickets fell on a green-tinged surface and Australia edged marginally ahead after a chaotic opening to the fourth Ashes Test.
By stumps on Friday, Australia were 4 for no loss in their second innings, Scott Boland the unlikely nightwatchman on four not out alongside Travis Head, yet to score. It gave the hosts a slender lead of 46 runs after England had been bundled out for 110 in reply to Australia’s first-innings 152, a sequence of collapses played out in front of a record-breaking crowd of 93,442.
“It’s been an amazing day of Test match cricket,” said England seamer Josh Tongue, who emerged as the outstanding individual performer.
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