Australia within four wickets of victory in second Ashes test

Australia moved within four wickets of victory in the second Ashes test and a 2-0 series lead after ending Joe Root’s defiant innings late on Sunday and exposing the England tailenders to the new ball before stumps on the penultimate evening.

Set an improbable 531 to win when Australia declared their second innings at 132-3 just before play resumed on day four, England lost captain Alastair Cook (1) in the second over and struggled to 247-6 at stumps.

Root (87) and Kevin Pietersen (53) shared a defiant 111-run partnership and Ben Stokes contributed a valuable 28 batting at No 6 to help England force the test into the last day – its best hope of salvaging a draw with rain forecast for Monday.

Matt Prior was unbeaten on 31 at stumps and batting with Stuart Broad (22).

Despite the strong position, the forecast for rain will make the Australians nervous in Adelaide, where they failed to finish off South Africa by two wickets last November when Faf du Plessis batted all day to salvage a draw.

Prior also has form in the match-saving stakes, having forced a draw and salvaged the series with his unbeaten 110 against New Zealand on the last day at Eden Park in March.

His highest score since then is 47, however, and he had 0, 4, 0 in his first three innings of this series. The seventh-wicket pair also had some close shaves in the last few overs against the new ball, with Prior leaving a ball that narrowly missed his off stump and Broad being hit in the shoulder by a bouncer from Mitchell Johnson.