As it happened - Australia vs England, 2nd Test, Adelaide, 4th day

Steady stuff from England's second-wicket pair, who have batted calmly through 40 minutes after tea without too many alarums. Lyon is finding plenty of spin going round the wicket to Burns and Malan, and probably couldn't ask for more when bowling to a pair of lefties - several deliveries have beaten the bat but no nicks yet. At the other end, Michael Neser is into the attack in place of Starc.

Smith opens up with Lyon and Starc, his two key bowlers, after the tea interval. No one has more day-night Test wickets than Starc's 50; no one currently playing has more Test wickets on this ground than Lyon (54). If England are going to make a show of saving this game, then they need to front up through this passage... then for the next two-and-a-bit hours... and all through tomorrow. You get the picture.

England 236 and 1 for 20 (Burns 16*, Malan 4*) need a further 448 to beat Australia 9 for 473 dec and 9 for 230 dec
Australia made an early breakthrough with the ball after positive batting enabled them to declare 467 ahead in their second innings at Adelaide Oval. Jhye Richardson claimed a wicket in his first over, dealing an early blow to England's attempts to stave off another defeat down under.

Haseeb Hameed was the man to depart, caught behind for a duck and continuing a woeful series for England's openers. Rory Burns and Dawid Malan survived until tea but, with England needing to bat out some 134 overs (or chase a world-record target in the fourth innings), Australia were well on top in their bid to go 2-0 up in the series.

Steven Smith had been able to call an early end to proceedings after half-centuries from Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne helped Australia recover from 4 for 55 earlier in the day. Malan and Joe Root shared four wickets but English attentions were already turning towards another trial against the pink ball.

Who picked all over tonight in the poll? Australia strike early, continuing a theme - England's first wicket has been worth 0, 23, 7 and 4 in the series so far - and Jhye Richardson has his first Test wicket since 2019. He gave Haseeb Hameed a working over in his first over the other night, but failed to locate the edge. This time, with his sixth ball, Richardson gets one to jump and kiss the glove on its way through. Some talk before the series that Hameed's low hands might get him into trouble on Australian decks, and that's a good example.

The players are back out, and Mitchell Starc is stretching off after going through his paces. Looks like he's fit to go... and Rory Burns is back to facing the first ball of the innings, having handed over to Hameed for the previous couple of innings.

Jhye Richardson plinks a big top edge into the leg side, one ball after fetching Malan into the stands, and Smith signals them in. That means England have been set 468 to win or, more realistically (if only slightly), 134 overs to survive for a draw.

Drinks are being taken at Adelaide Oval, Australia leading by 451 runs. Starc is going to carry on for now, but he had to be visited by the physio after seemingly tweaking a muscle in his back having a swing at Root's offspin. He popped a couple of pills, and Smith will be hoping there's no damage to his attack leader.

With Mitchell Starc at the crease, we are deep into declaration speculation territory. Not much signs of activity from the Australia rooms, though. While we wait for the moment when England's batting credentials will get another thorough examination, why not check out Jarrod Kimber's deep dive into the Rory Burns phenomenon: a man who makes important runs but often looks bereft.

Here's a sample:

"Among opening batters, Burns has the 17th most runs of any English player. Ahead of him are five players who have been knighted. Then there are Graham Gooch, Michael Vaughan, Herbert Sutcliffe, Marcus Trescothick, and Mike Atherton. People who open the batting for England this much often become legends. And England has had probably the most incredible openers the game has seen. Alastair Cook's runs, Jack Hobbs' hundreds; it's an exceptional list.

"And Burns sticks out. He's currently averaging 30.87, around half of Sutcliffe's magical mark. The next lowest average of English openers with at least 1500 runs is Peter Richardson's 37.47. Right now, England would trade in three of their backup keepers for just one batter who could hit that mark."

England steadily whittling their way through the innings here. Root into the attack and he gets a wicket straight away, Carey chopping on to his stumps. A bonus for the captain... probably won't make his plums feel any better, though.

Labuschagne falls looking to get the scoreboard rattling, slog-sweeping straight to deep midwicket... and Malan has a Test bowling average. First wicket for him, four-and-a-half years after making his debut. A century and a fifty in the match for Labuschagne, who walks off to applause around Adelaide Oval. Out comes another local boy, Alex Carey; Australia going to bat on for a bit longer.

Clear signs of intent from Australia, Labuschagne stepping out to loft Robinson over mid-on and Cameron Green, the new batter, tipping-and-running energetically. The lead has just passed 400, and England have turned to Dawid Malan's leggies for a spell. How much longer before he's strapping his pads on?

Head doesn't last much longer, though you sense Australia are just winding up to unleash on England with the ball again. Dug in short by Robinson and he hooks in the air, high towards the midwicket boundary... where Stokes sprints into view and then throws himself full length to take a brilliant diving catch a few inches from the turf. Gets up, tosses the ball away, casual as you like. That's how to do it.

He went in on 45 off 44, and it hasn't taken Travis Head long to raise a half-century on his home ground. A thump down the ground nearly took Woakes' ear off - it was catchable only in the technical sense - and then a swatted pull for two took him past 50 for the second time in the series. Aggressive again, just as during his 85-ball hundred at the Gabba, and it has reasserted Australia's sense of dominance in Adelaide.

Australia 9 for 473 dec and 4 for 134 (Head 45*, Labuschagne 31*) lead England 236 by 371 runs
England claimed three wickets in an action-packed first hour before a counterpunching knock from Travis Head, in partnership with the prolific Marnus Labuschagne, helped shore up Australia's position in the Adelaide Test.

At dinner, Australia had extended their lead beyond 350, with six wickets still standing and the prospect of a declaration later in the day. But England had lifted spirits - if not their chances of victory - by starting day four in positive fashion. They did so with their captain off the field, Joe Root having gone for a scan after being hit in "the abdomen" during warm-ups.

Michael Neser, the nightwatchman, nearly fell to a run-out off the first ball of the session and was then bowled by James Anderson in the next over. Stuart Broad had Marcus Harris caught behind by a flying Jos Buttler - and then would have removed Steven Smith for a golden duck if Buttler had not dropped an easier chance going the other way. A tight lbw call then went with Smith from Broad's very next ball.

Smith did not last long, however, gloving Ollie Robinson down the leg side where Buttler again held on in eye-catching style. Labuschagne struggled for fluency, as he had during his first-innings century, but Head timed the ball from the outset, racing to 45 from 44 at the interval to help redress the balance.

The Robinson offspin experiment lasts three overs, Root then turning to Stokes for some fire and brimstone. Unfortunately, what he gets is several half-trackers - one short enough to be called wide - and some overstepping. In between times, Labuschagne and Travis Head have raised the fifty stand for Australia's fifth wicket.

It might be a one-over experiment, since Joe Root has just returned to the field to take over the reins... but Ollie Robinson has just delivered a capable over of flighted offspin. TV shows he was practising before play, presumably as a contingency for their poor over rate and Root not being available. He's done it before in county cricket, too.

Update: It wasn't a one-over experiment. But will it save England further docked WTC points?

Andrew McGlashan writes: "Marcus Harris had a prime opportunity to quieten the debate about his position in the team – Australia miles ahead and the day time to bat in having done the hard work last night under lights. But he couldn’t take it as Stuart Broad removed him from around-the-wicket again, although Harris may consider himself unfortunate that Jos Buttler held his second excellent catch off him for the match. Still, Harris has been unconvincing at the start of this series but he will likely be retained for his home ground on Boxing Day with national selectors eager to give players a sense of stability. The team is also performing well which helps, but Harris will need a score soon."

Jos Buttler is in the thick of it again, holding on to another difficult chance to remove Smith cheaply (in fact, that is Smith's first single-digit score against England in 14 innings)! Ollie Robinson was the bowler to remove the stand-in Australia captain, Smith walking after tickling a glove down the leg side. Buttler had to go low to his left, and managed to cling on to the ball with the fingertips of one hand. This game is moving on.

Meanwhile, the parallels with the 2017-18 Adelaide Test remain strong, England catching up this afternoon after failing to take wickets under the floodlights on day three.

Stokes has brought on the change seamers, Ollie Robinson and Chris Woakes replacing Anderson and Broad. It's been an excellent start from the new-ball pair, despite England's position in the match: nine overs, eight runs and two wickets. Not bad for a couple of old stagers.

Sounds like Root suffered a David Lloyd moment in the nets this morning... except he wasn't wearing a box! So he's going to need a scan on his special area. Fingers crossed it's all in order down there.

England's other problem, aside from being without their captain, is that Root is also their spinner in this Test - and they're already behind the over rate.

A sublime start for England, but it could have been even better - Broad found Steven Smith's outside edge first ball, only for Buttler to shell his third catch of the match! He had just taken an absolute screamer, too. But this time, a sharp chance going to his right, it hit the palm of the glove and went down. Broad wasn't done, though, and made it a hat-trick of chances when rapping Smith on the pads with his next delivery. He thought it was so good he didn't even turn around - the classic Broad celebrappeal - but Rod Tucker didn't agree, and DRS returns a verdict of umpire's call! All going off.

Early drama at Adelaide Oval! Two in three balls, England make early inroads - and it's the old firm, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, doing the damage. Michael Neser was nearly run out off the first ball of the day - sent back by his partner, it needed a dive to beat Haseeb Hameed's direct hit from backward point - but he didn't get beyond the second over, as Anderson nipped one back through the gate to hit the top of middle stump. Broad then extracted Marcus Harris via the outside edge and a screamer of a catch from Jos Buttler, flying one-handed to his left. And then...

You'll have noticed that things haven't exactly been going swimmingly for England. Well, you can now add to the list that Joe Root will not take the field at the start of play, after being struck in the abdomen whiel facing throwdowns during England's warm-up. He is currently being assessed by the medical team, Ben Stokes will lead the side in Root's absence. Couldn't blame him for preferring to lie down in a darkened room rather than go through the motions, I suppose...

And here's a virus update, from Andrew McGlashan: "Covid-19 has again impacted the Adelaide Test after a member of the broadcast crew returned a positive result as part of the regular testing that is required. The media centre in the Riverbank stand at the ground was given a deep clean on Sunday while media who had not yet arrived were briefly held elsewhere while the situation was assessed before being allowed in. There has been no impact on the match. In a statement, the venue said: "SA Health are aware and we have begun to trace and notify this person’s close contact. In accordance with our pre-planning we undertaking a deep clean of the relevant areas and are facilitating alternative facilities for relevant officials as required.”