England bowlers choke Australia after drawing blood

MELBOURNE. A resurgent England attack tore through Australia’s batting lineup with six wickets in the final session to leave the hosts reeling at 164 for nine at the close of an attritional second day of the fourth Ashes test on Friday.Bowled out for what seemed a paltry 255 in the morning, the tourists hit back through their seamers in the afternoon with Stuart Broad and James Anderson’s parsimony and discipline capturing three wickets apiece before a crowd of more than 78,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, fighting another desperate rearguard action, was 43 not out at stumps, with number 11 batsman Nathan Lyon yet to face a ball and Australia trailing by 91 runs.“England are on top. We have had our worst day of the series,” Australia opener Chris Rogers said after scoring 61, his third half-century of the series. “They bowled outstandingly and we’re up against it.”Australia may have recovered the Ashes and wrapped up the five-test series 3-0, but the frailty of their batsmen has been repeatedly exposed throughout the series before being hastily concealed by the dourness of Haddin.Unlike the first three tests in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, however, none of the keeper’s team mates lingered for long enough to mount a rescue of any sort and an England that, for many, seemed destined to be swept 5-0, suddenly appeared rejuvenated and chirpy.“Days like that have been few and far between on this trip, and we’re really hungry to get something out of this tour and I think we showed that today,” Anderson said.Having restricted Australia to 96-3 at tea, their bowlers turned the screws under bright sunshine, and Steve Smith was the first domino to fall.The number five batsman had hung around for 95 minutes and 77 balls for his 19 runs, but flashed a frustrated cut shot that sent an edge flying to Ian Bell at second slip.The wicket broke a 48-run partnership and sparked a collapse as Rogers promptly threw away his wicket after nearly four hours of painstaking graft.The 36-year-old had shown great poise, raising the half-century shortly before tea after being struck in the helmet by a Broad delivery that left him bleeding from his temple.But his attempted slog over mid-on off Bresnan found only Kevin Pietersen charging to his right.One-day specialist George Bailey never appeared comfortable in the role of rescuer and followed soon after, caught behind by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow off Anderson for a 19-ball duck.