Mitch beats pain barrier to put visitors on back foot

MITCHELL Starc went from agony to ecstasy last night when the brave fast bowler fought back from serious discomfort to dramatically put Australia in charge of the Sydney Test.

Another Joe Root choke with a hundred in sight and a Jonny Bairstow brain explosion have left England’s long tail exposed at a point when they had Starc and Australia’s tiring quicks on the ropes.

Starc broke the game open by creating something from nothing with the second new ball when he marched Root, and then in the final over of the day Josh Hazlewood made Bairstow pay for his stunning decision not to use a nightwatchman, leaving England on their knees at 5- 233.

Australia were torn over whether to give Starc a home Ashes Test in Sydney or wrap him in cotton wool for the crucial upcoming tour of South Africa, and in the shadows of stumps selectors would have been seriously questioning the wisdom of their decision.

Starc’s speeds had plummeted to a stunning low of 127km/ h and he appeared to be cramping badly and feeling his bruised foot as he limped in for one last shot at England captain Root ( 83), who had his sights set on a century and burying Australia’s tiring quicks.

But from nowhere, Starc burst through the pain barrier to banish Root in incredible fashion in the second last over of the day, thanks to a brilliant diving catch from Mitchell Marsh, opening the door for Hazlewood to strike down Bairstow seven balls later.

Stranded England batsman Dawid Malan ( 55 not out) could not hide his shock that Bairstow decided to bypass the option of a nightwatchman and walk directly into the path of Australia’s most deadly accurate seamer.

With that, the position of power England had built up evaporated and now it’s up to the shockingly out of form Moeen Ali to rescue them from a butchered first innings. Pat Cummins dives for a catch. Picture: Brett Costello

Root was ruthlessly smothering Starc and the also weary Hazlewood and Pat Cummins into the dirt, before the leftarm destroyer showed why selectors were prepared to risk him as he took the second new ball and broke the game apart at the 11th hour.

“It was great to get the late reward. I thought the boys toiled really hard,” Marsh said.

“We’ve seen that over the past four Test matches that if we can get into that tail, hopefully we’ll be able to go through them tomorrow and the new ball is only two overs old so that will be great for us.”

Asked if he was shocked at Bairstow’s gutsy but foolish decision to come out to bat with only minutes left in the day, Marsh got straight to the point.

“I was very surprised, yep,” he said.

“If he bats out that last over and he’s not out tomorrow he gets going. I’ve played three games this series and I think Lyno ( Australia’s nightwatchman, Nathan Lyon) has padded up six times for me. I would have the nighty.”

Root and Malan had built a huge foundation for England with a 100- run partnership that had the visitors well set for a 400- run plus first- innings total after they were at one point in trouble at 3- 95.

With the ball already spinning for Lyon on day one, Aus- tralia were staring down the barrel of having to face legspinner Mason Crane batting last.

Starc had an average speed of just 135km/ h — massively down on his series high of 148km/ h — and he was clearly worried about the bruised heel that kept him out of Boxing Day by the end of play.

A rained- out first session led to two marathon three- hour sessions, and cramping in his calf looked like the final straw.

England star Malan admitted he couldn’t believe how rapidly the house fell down.

“Definitely, it sums up where we’ve been on this tour,” Malan said.

THE ASHES