Ashes latest: Australia v England second Test at the Adelaide Oval - report & scorecard

Scorecard: Australia v England second Test

Australia first innings: 473-9d (Labuschagne 103, Warner 95, Smith 93, Carey 51; Stokes 3-113, Anderson 2-58)

England first innings: 236 all out (Malan 80, Root 62; Starc 4-37, Lyon 3-58)

Australia second innings: 230-9d (Labuschagne 51, Head 51; Root 2-27, Malan 2-33)

England second innings: 82-4 (Burns 34, Root 24; Richardson 2-17, Neser 1-7)

Australia won the toss and elected to bat

England lost captain Joe Root to the final delivery on day four of the second Ashes Test, a hammer blow that left Ben Stokes in charge of a mountainous rescue job in Adelaide.

Root’s day was bookended by bouts of eye-watering pain after he was struck in the groin area without the protection of a box during the pre-play warm-ups and then clattered again in the tender region by an 85mph delivery that left him buckled over in pain for several minutes in the closing moments of the final session.

But the lasting blow was dealt after he bravely resumed the battle, nicking Mitch Starc outside off stump just four deliveries before the close of play. His physical discomfort will ease in time, but England’s Ashes may not if they slip 2-0 with three to play.

They will head into the final day on 82 for four, with the victory target of 468 a non-factor as they instead look to block out three full sessions against opponents who have been routinely ruthless with the ball.

Stokes, who showed the right kind of bloody-minded intent with an unbeaten three for 40 balls, does not know how to give up on a lost cause but he will need major back-up from the likes of Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler if he is to take it close.

Australia have spent the overwhelming majority of the day/nighter in Adelaide in control and now need six more wickets to wrap up a deserved victory.

England’s trip has already suffered several notable setbacks but Sunday began with a fresh layer of indignity, with news coming through that Root would not be able to lead the side out due to a below-the-belt blow.

He had been taking throwdowns from spin coach Jeetan Patel without one key piece of equipment when an awkward bounce left him requiring a precautionary trip to hospital.

Stokes deputised in the afternoon, which began with Australia 282 ahead on 45 for one. Despite the overbearing match situation, England rallied to the tune of three wickets for 10 runs.

James Anderson made short work of nightwatch Michael Neser, Stuart Broad outclassed the off-form Marcus Harris and Ollie Robinson had Steve Smith caught with a lifter into the rib-cage.

But it was another rollercoaster for Buttler behind the stumps, with two athletic one-handed catches to see off Harris and Smith, but only after he had put down the Australia captain first ball for a third drop of the match.

Broad was the unlucky bowler and can also count himself unfortunate not to have removed Smith second ball, having got the wrong end of a devilishly tight lbw decision. On both occasions he had begun thrusting his arms out in celebration, only for Buttler handiwork and umpire Rod Tucker to deny him.

From there Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head righted the ship with an aggressive stand of 89, both men making matching 51s in a period that saw Stokes and Chris Woakes leak runs before Robinson made an unexpected cameo as a spinner.

The sight of the 6ft 6in seamer rolling his way through three overs of inoffensive twirlers took what has been a deflating visit to South Australia into fresh and faintly bizarre territory and did little to polish the Ashes brand.

In the absence of the dropped Jack Leach, England leaned into the trend of occasional spin with four of the last five wickets split between Root and Dawid Malan.

Malan has some previous in first-class cricket but the image of him dismissing the classy Labuschagne with his rough and ready leg-spin, courtesy of a brilliant Stokes catch will go down as a puzzler.

The declaration left eight overs for England to bat before the tea interval, but two was all it took for Jhye Richardson to find a ball with Haseeb Hameed’s name on it, kicking one up just outside off stump and taking the glove. He left for a six-ball duck and England’s opening stands on tour now stand at nought, 23, seven and four.

Rory Burns was beaten a couple of times by his nemesis Starc but survived 19 balls in the left-armer’s opening spell, a watershed of sorts given recent history between the pair.

Nathan Lyon held court after the break, wheeling away as he tested the mettle of both Burns and Malan, but the duo chipped 115 deliveries and 44 runs off the ledger before the latter gave way for 20.

One ball after an uncharacteristic drop by Smith, Malan was lbw to the skiddy pace of Neser, bringing Root the middle under the tricky twilight conditions. His technique reliable enough to see him through the notoriously taxing period but Burns scrapped away for 34 in 95 balls before Richardson built the pressure and snagged the edge.

Root and Stokes appeared dead set on dropping anchor for day five but when Starc floored the skipper with a horrible impact that saw him take five minutes out before gingerly taking guard, the mood was broken. He gamely got a couple of drives away but, with the seconds ticking down to stumps, he followed one and nicked behind to make a bruising day even more bitter.

Test hit by Coronavirus scare

The second Ashes Test was hit by another coronavirus scare after two members of the media tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday.

The two individuals were working for separate organisations at the Adelaide Oval with one of them confirmed as a member of the crew serving the BBC.

Consequently, no members of the BBC commentary team or from Australian broadcast partner ABC were admitted to the ground for the fourth day’s play. ABC provided commentary remotely from a studio.

News of the first positive test came to light early in the day with the person concerned understood to have conducted an interview with England batter Dawid Malan on Saturday.

Malan was not deemed a close contact as the interview took place outside, was social distanced and the individual was wearing a mask.

A statement from the Adelaide Oval read: “We have been advised that a member of a broadcast crew has returned a positive Covid result as part of their scheduled testing.

“SA (South Australia) Health are aware and we have begun to trace and notify this person’s close contacts.

“In accordance with our pre-planning we are undertaking a deep clean of the relevant areas and are facilitating alternative facilities for relevant officials as required.”

Reports of a second positive test from a person working in a separate part of the ground were confirmed later in the day. Other members of the media were required to undergo further testing as a result.

A further statement added: “We have been made aware of a second member of the visiting media who has returned a positive Covid result as part of the scheduled day-six testing.

“This individual was working in the media centre in the western stand. He has not attended the ground today and neither have his close contacts. We are undertaking a clean of the relevant media area in-line with our protocols.”

The developments occurred after Australia captain Pat Cummins was ruled out of the match ahead of the first day’s play having been deemed a close contact of a positive coronavirus case.

Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook fears the coronavirus situation could soon start to have an impact on the series.

He told BT Sport: “Now there’s Covid, which was brushed aside for a couple of games. Nothing was spoken about it, but then we come here and suddenly we’ve Cummins going, the media starting to get it.

“Are there going to be restrictions for them in Melbourne and Sydney? They didn’t want to tour Australia under these restrictions. All this stuff is going to start building again and England are probably going to be 2-0 down.

“How that dressing room stays together – it is so important they play some good cricket but it is going to be a hell of a task for (Joe) Root, (coach Chris) Silverwood and that management team.”