Joe Root falls right before stumps in Adelaide as Australia close in on 2-0 Ashes lead

England 82-4 chasing 468 in pink-ball Test on Sunday

Aussie quick Mitchell Starc took the wicket of England captain Joe Root right before stumps on day four of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, December 19, 2021. Getty

Alex Carey of Australia fields a deflection off Ben Stokes at Adelaide Oval. Getty

Australia's captain Steve Smith, centre, celebrates with teammate David Warner after taking a catch to dismiss England batsman Rory Burns. AFP

Australian seamer Jhye Richardson picked up two wickets in the second innings. EPA

England captain Joe Root consoles Ben Stokes in Adelaide. AFP

Aussie batsman Marnus Labuschagne celebrates reaching his half century. Getty

Australia's Travis Head scored a fifty in the second innings. Reuters

England seamer Ollie Robinson resorted to bowling spin at the Adelaide Oval. AFP

Australia left-arm quick Mitchell Starc enjoyed another great day with the pink ball as he dismissed England captain Joe Root with the last ball of Day 4 to put the hosts on course for victory in the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

The Aussies declared their second innings on 230-9 before the tea break, setting England an improbable victory target of 468.

Any hopes of a fightback were extinguished when Root was caught behind, leaving England 82-4 at stumps and staring at a second successive heavy defeat in the five-match series.

Ben Stokes was on three with his team still 386 runs away from their target.

Australia were on top at the start as seamer Jhye Richardson removed opener Haseeb Hameed for a duck before tea and Michael Neser sent back Dawid Malan, who made 20, after the break.

England settled briefly as Rory Burns, who had managed 17 runs in his three previous innings, held firm before departing for 34, caught by Steve Smith in the slips off a Richardson lifter.

Starc floored Root with a painful blow to his abdomen before dismissing the England captain to cap another great day for Australia.

Earlier, Marnus Labuschagne followed his first innings century with a fifty and Travis Head made 51 as Australia declared on 230-9 half an hour before the tea break.

The build up to Sunday's play was overshadowed by a confirmed positive among the broadcast crew covering the game, with Australia captain Pat Cummins earlier ruled out of the game after he came into close contact with a positive coronavirus case..

Former captain Alastair Cook fears another defeat is on the cards and he is not optimistic for the rest of the series.

Cook told BT Sport: "England are probably going to end up being 2-0 down after two games. It is very hard to win three out of three in Australia, against this side.

"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 [Pat] 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 Root, [coach Chris] Silverwood and that management team."