The Ashes best bets for day five and odds: England on brink of heavy defeat

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for the Ashes between Australia and England.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 4am Monday

Scoreboard
Australia 473/9d (M Labuschagne 103, D Warner 95, S Smith 93) & 239/9d (M Labuschagne 51, T Head 51) lead England 236 (D Malan 80, J Root 62) & 82/4 (R J Burns 34, B Stokes 3 not out) by 385 runs

Best prices
1-25 Australia, 200-1 England, 14-1 Draw

Story of day four

Australia raced from 45 for one to 239 for nine, declared, leaving England with a daunting target of 468.

Haseeb Hameed immediately buckled under the pressure, lasting just six balls before getting out for a duck, England's Ashes campaign fast turning into an absolute nightmare.

Rory Burns provided a stiffer resistance, seeing off 95 balls in an innings of 34, but Aussie paceman Jyhe Richardson eventually claimed the scalps of both opening batsmen to leave the visitors on the ropes.

When England captain Joe Root was dismissed in the final over of the day, the home crowd were delirious.

England were 50-1 chances at the end of day three - and they have drifted to 200-1 with one day remaining. Ben Stokes, who will start the final day on three not out, needs to produce another heroic performance to get his team out of the soup.

Star of the day

Travis Head needed only 54 balls to fire 51 runs, providing a timely injection of rapid run-scoring which allowed the Aussie bowlers to get 43.2 overs at England's bewildered top order on day four.

Moment of the day

England fans will probably say the moment stumps were called - their team has been an underprepared, outplayed embarrassment in the series so far and the Ashes has become X-rated viewing for poms everywhere.

View from the camp

'Any time one of your best players gets out [Joe Root], the team takes a bit of a knock. It's a big, big ask but we will put the effort in and fight.'

John Lewis, England bowling coach

Day five preview

The weather gods do not appear to be coming to England's rescue. The forecast is for a fine day, meaning Australia will get the maximum possible time to dismiss their browbeaten rivals.

Australian cricket fans used to be treated to 'dollar day' - cheap admission for fifth days that were unlikely to last long - and this Adelaide annihilation should fit the category.

Ben Stokes should be immediately knighted if he finds a way of stopping England losing this match. Bet365 go 10-11 your-choice on Stokes runs - and 25 or less seems the sensible call.

Australia's bowlers are rampant, confident and will start day five feeling fresh, given how easily England have succumbed. Stokes will start day five on three runs, likely to come out swinging in a bid to turn the tide. Rapid failure seems a million times more likely than him conjuring a match-saving innings.

Stokes is full of rust, having had five months off before the first Test, and he has been carrying a little knee niggle as well.

Best bet

Ben Stokes under 25.5 runs
3pts 10-11 bet365

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