Hits & Misses: Australia in touching distance of The Ashes after late Nathan Lyon masterclass

England narrowly lived to fight another day as Nathan Lyon turned it on at Adelaide late on day four to leave Australia four wickets away from Ashes glory. Here are out hits & misses. Hits Lyon-hearted The game may not have been quite in the balance just yet, but as Zak Crawley and Harry Brook were building through the final session, there was belief starting to grow amongst the Barmy Army. Lyon had a tough start with Crawley, Root, and then Brook taking him on with the sweeps and reverse sweeps as he struggled to settle and went at more than five an over. But at his favourite ground and with the game calling out for a match winner, he removed Brook, Ben Stokes and Crawley in the space of four overs to kill the contest. The wicket of Brook was largely self-inflicted (see below), but it was a magical delivery to remove Stokes, drifting in and then straightening to beat his forward defence and take the top of off. Crawley had batted serenely for 85, but Lyon got his revenge, flighting one up, drawing him forward and beating him with turn, allowing Alex Carey to complete a fine stumping. Crawley repays the faith He was the man most under pressure coming into The Ashes for England, and the knives were out after a pair in Perth. But since then, he’s been arguably the best batter outside of Root with 70-odd in Brisbane and a fighting 85 in the second innings. He showed all the attributes that had given him so much rope with England selectors, using his height to get over the bounce and pull powerfully while also using his reach to sweep Lyon off his length. His innings saw him pass 200 runs for the series. Only the fourth man on either side to get there after Head (379), Carey (267) and Root (219). Labuschagne screamer Australia may have missed Steve Smith’s batting in Adelaide, but they didn’t go without his exceptional slip catching as Marnus Labuschagne was a more than able substitute. Even with a disappointing game with the bat, Australia’s No.3 will always give you 110 per cent in the field with his energy and chat and didn’t miss the moment when it came his way. Standing close at second slip, given the slowness of the surface, he was forced to dive across Usman Khawaja to reach the edge off Ollie Pope that was dying towards the turf. He timed his movements perfectly, sticking out his left hand where the ball stuck as he was off to the races with a celebration to match the athletic effort. Misses Australia’s middle order mailase Australia arrived on day four to grind England into oblivion, not only for this Test match but also wipe out their weary bowling attack with tight turnarounds ahead of Melbourne and Sydney. Travis Head moved past his 150, and Alex Carey looked serene, only for the lower middle order to collapse, losing 6-38, with the tourists once again inspired by Ben Stokes, summoning up his strength having not bowled at all on day three. With Cam Green out of form and Josh Inglis shaky at seven in his fledgling career, Australia’s middle order looks thin outside of Carey. It meant England had a glimmer of hope instead of being completely wiped out, and with Steve Smith coming back, it’s the two WA boys who look most at risk, given Khawaja’s utility through the order. Brook loses his head Harry Brook is as much of Bazball’s talisman as Ben Stokes, but even he seemed to have some epiphany coming into Adelaide, saying he had played some “shocking shots” to throw his wicket away in the series. He played a gritty first innings knock, making it to 45 before copping a great ball from Cam Green and was 30 off 56 in the second, forming a big partnership with Zak Crawley. The pair were milking Nathan Lyon with ease, which made his decision to go for the big reverse all the more confusing. He went a mile outside off trying to swat it away, only for the ball to turn and crash into his off stump having left nearly all three exposed. He stood his ground as if to suggest he copped some sort of worldie, but in truth, it was another “shocking shot” to add to his Ashes collection and opened the door for Lyon to get into his work.