England powered to 155 for 5 at Lunch on Day 4 at Edgbaston, extending their lead to 162 thanks to aggressive 40s from Joe Root and Harry Brook.
Root dispatched three reverse sweeps in the first seven balls of the match, demonstrating the hosts’ early aggression. After failing on his first attempt, he hit a six and a boundary on his next two, despite the fact that three slip fielders and a wicketkeeper were poised in position. The 16-run over from Scott Boland initiated England’s strategy for the day.
However, Australia struck early, with Pat Cummins’ inswinging yorker dismissing Ollie Pope on 14 balls. However, while Pope essentially avoided the strike, Root was scoring virtually run-of-the-mill runs. Boland was the target of his cuts and strikes that sped toward the boundary lines.
Harry Brook required some time to settle in, but once he did, Root assumed the supporting role. Nathan Lyon assisted Brook with a pair of short deliveries, which he promptly dispatched to welcome the off spinner into the attack. Root, who had temporarily slowed down, decided to assault the off stump shortly after the drinks break. However, he missed a huge shot after stepping out against the spinner and was easily caught on 46.
After Root’s dismissal, England slowed down considerably as the ball moved around. Brook, who had been restrained for some time, ultimately collapsed while attempting to escape. He was dismissed four runs short of fifty after pulling Lyon direct to the mid-wicket fielder. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes had a few near calls due to the ball’s erratic movement, but they survived. In fact, Bairstow was pronounced leg-before-wicket in the final over before lunch, but the decision was reversed after a review.
Brief Scores: England 393/8 decl. (Joe Root 112*, Jonny Bairstow 78, Zak Crawley 61; Nathan Lyon 4-149, Josh Hazlewood 2-61) & 155/5 (Joe Root 46, Harry Brook 46; Pat Cummins 2-33, Nathan Lyon 2-34) lead Australia 386 (Usman Khawaja 141, Alex Carey 66, Travis Head 50; Ollie Robinson 3-55, Stuart Broad 3-68) by 162 runs
