Australia close on victory as Marsh brothers light up Sydney

Australia were closing on an innings victory with England fighting a desperate rearguard on 93 for four at stumps on the fourth day of the fifth Ashes Test match Sunday, still 210 runs from forcing their host to bat again. Brothers Shaun and Mitchell Marsh had earlier both scored centuries on a scorching morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground to put Australia in a position where they could declare on 649-7 in the second session. England, already 3-0 down in the series with the urn relinquished, had toiled in the field in temperature in excess of 40 degrees Celsius with little success and their luck did not change when they came out to bat. Openers Alastair Cook and Mark Stoneman went cheaply inside the first six overs of their second innings with James Vince (18) and Dawid Malan (five) following in the final session. Skipper Joe Root, who made an unbeaten 42 despite playing with an injured finger, and Jonny Bairstow (17 not out) will take England's fight to save the Test into the final day.

"It was great to be out there with my brother when he got that hundred. "I just wanted to give him a hug." Shaun Marsh on the moment his brother Mitch made a century. More reaction ? https://t.co/3ULcqn4l6z #Ashes #bbccricket pic.twitter.com/99wRNaBI70

— Test Match Special (@bbctms) January 7, 2018

The Marsh brothers had earlier joined the Chappell siblings Ian and Greg (1972) and the Waugh twins Mark and Steve (2001) in scoring centuries in the same innings in an Ashes Test. Shaun made 156 from 291 balls before being run out by a Stoneman direct hit just after lunch, with Mitchell having departed for 101 on the delivery after securing his second century when Tom Curran took out his off stump. The brothers both scored their second centuries of the series in a brilliant 169-run partnership that built on the mammoth 171 Usman Khawaja scored Saturday. It was a particularly sweet partnership given Shaun was a controversial selection for the series, his eighth recall to the Test line-up being met with disbelief in some quarter, and Mitchell was only brought in for the third Test in Perth. Mitchell was the second to reach the milestone about an hour into the morning with two runs past point and Shaun was in such a hurry to congratulate his little brother that he almost ran him out.

There it is! Take a bow, Shaun Marsh. His sixth Test ton comes from 212 balls with a glorious drive for four: https://t.co/vhFwlbdpM8 #Ashes pic.twitter.com/UnqaeST4P0

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) January 6, 2018

Shaun had started the day on 98 with Australia 479 for four and took just five balls to secure his sixth Test century by crunching Moeen Ali through the covers for one of the 18 fours he scored in his 403-minute knock. While Australia flourished with the bat, England continued to struggle. Cook did become the sixth batsman to score 12,000 runs in Tests but the ovation had barely been completed before Stoneman was dismissed for a duck by pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, the batsman reviewing the lbw decision to no avail. Former skipper Cook was dismissed for 10 rocking back in his crease to a superb delivery from spinner Nathan Lyon that removed the bail from his off stump. Vince enjoyed a rare England success with the DRS to reverse a caught behind verdict on 15 but he made just three more runs before offering up another poor shot to a Pat Cummins delivery which caught a nick which Steve Smith juggled to take at slip.

Shaun and Mitchell Marsh become the first set of brothers to score a century in the same Test innings for Australia since Mark & Steve Waugh; 2001 v England at the Oval #Ashes #PinkTest

— Fox Sports Lab (@FoxSportsLab) January 7, 2018

Root needed lengthy treatment on his right index finger after taking a rap on the digit from a Starc delivery before Malan was trapped lbw on his back foot by Lyon for five, the review system again failing England.BRIEF SCOREEngland 346 & 93/4 in 46 overs (Root 42*, Lyon 2/31) trail Australia 649/7d in 193 overs (Khawaja 171, Shaun 156) by 210 runs