The Ashes best bets for day two & odds: Late strikes help England in fourth Test

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

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 11pm Wednesday

Scoreboard
Australia 126-3 (Harris 38) v England

Best prices
13-5 Australia, 14-1 England, 2-5 Draw

Story of day one

Despite a gloomy weather forecast and a green tinge to the pitch, Australia captain Pat Cummins had no hesitation in choosing to bat first after winning the toss in Sydney.

His decision looked like being vindicated as the hosts reached 111-1 on a day's play that was interrupted by rain four times but England claimed two important late wickets to lighten the mood in their camp.

David Warner and Marcus Harris shared a patient opening stand of 51 but Warner was then caught at slip off his old nemesis Stuart Broad. Harris, looking more confident after his valuable 76 in the third Test in Melbourne, reached 38 before James Anderson found the edge of his bat and Joe Root pouched the catch at first slip.

In the very next over, Root brought back Mark Wood to attack key man Marnus Labuschagne and the Aussie number three was caught behind off for 28, leaving Steve Smith and the recalled Usman Khawaja at the wicket when more rain forced a premature close.

Star of the day

The stop-start nature of the day meant it was a bit of a grind for both teams but Anderson was again outstanding in his second spell of 1-12 from seven overs, building pressure, dismissing Harris and beating Smith with a beauty late in the day.

Moment of the day

After clipping the first ball of Wood's over for four, Labuschagne edged the second to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler and England were hugely relieved to get rid of a man whose previous five Test scores at the SCG were 38, 215, 59, 91 and 73.

View from the camp

'It was a tough day, stop-start. To put the two wickets on at the end changes the perception. If we can start well tomorrow we're right in the game. We're trying to show as much fight as we can.'

Mark Wood, England bowler

Day two preview

The forecast is for more rain in Sydney throughout the Test match, with days two and four likely to have the worst of the weather, and the draw has been slashed to 2-5 after the first day.

Australia are 13-5 to keep alive their hopes of a 5-0 series victory while England, despite Anderson and Wood's late strikes, are 14-1 to get a win on the board.

On England's last visit to Sydney in 2018, Smith (83) and Khawaja (171) shared a stand of almost 200 as Australia piled up 649-7 declared. Given the conditions and the loss of their top three, their first-innings runs line is a more modest 356.5 with bet365 and the next man in, Cameron Green, has had a lean series with the bat, scoring nought, two and 17 in the first innings of the first three Tests.

The Sydney pitches tend to be flat, especially early in the game, and it may be wise to play it safe and back hometown hero Smith, who is six not out, to top-score for Australia.

He has not been as dominant as in recent Ashes series, despite a vital first-innings 93 in the day-night match in Adelaide, but he has scored three centuries and six fifties in 12 previous innings at the SCG and relishes the responsibility of batting with the middle- and lower-order.

Best bet

Steve Smith top Australia first-innings runscorer
1pt 8-5 bet365

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