Australia vs England, 2nd Ashes Test, Day 4 Stats Review: New feat for James Anderson, Joe Root's milestone and other stats

Australia are – wickets away from winning the second Ashes Test and taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. At stumps on Day 4, England were  82/4 and need 386 more runs to cross the line. With the track deteriorating with time,  Ben Stokes and the other remaining batters will have a stern task at hand on the final day. Notably, Australia played eight Day-Night Tests previously and emerged winners every single time. Considering the current scorecard, a ninth win is on the cards.

Speaking of how the entire day panned out, Australia resumed at their overnight score of 45/1. The hosts got off to a dismal start as they lost three quick wickets in the first hour of the day’s play. At 55/4, Australia somewhat looked in trouble. However, centurion from the first innings Marnus Labuschagne, and centurion from the previous game Travis Head joined forces, bringing the Aussies back in the hunt.

The duo added 89 runs for the fifth wicket as the hosts extended their lead over 350 runs. Significant contributions from Chris Green and Mitchell Starc meant Australia declared at 230/9, asking England to chase down a mammoth 468 in the fourth innings. The visitors, in response, lost opener Haseeb Hameed for a duck. While Rory Burns and Dawid Malan showed some fight, none of the two could play a substantial knock.

At stumps on Day 4, England were 82/4 and they need to bat out of their skin to take this game towards a draw.

Meanwhile, here are the important stats and numbers from Australia vs England, 2nd Ashes Test Day 4:

13 – England openers have recorded 13 Test ducks in 2021, most by any team in a calendar year.

4 – Joe Root became the third batter after Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag to slam 850 runs in the second innings of Tests in a calendar year.

4 – James Anderson became the fourth bowler and first pacer to bowl 6000 overs in Test cricket. Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble and Shane Warner are the others with the feat.

63 – Anderson’s tally of 63 Test wickets is the joint-third most by an England bowler on Australian soil. He shares the feat with Bobby Peel.

100 – Anderson became the first batter to remain not-out 100 times in Tests.

1 – Dawid Malan took his maiden wicket in Test cricket.

2 – Haseeb Hameed recorded his second Test duck in 2021.

12 – Marnus Labuschagne notched his 12th half-century in Test cricket.

44 – Mitchell Starc now has 44 sixes in Test cricket. Steve Smith also has as many sixes in the purest format.

8 – Travis Head brought up his eight Test half-century. The southpaw also has three centuries in the format.