Australia throw down gauntlet in fourth Test

Adam Gilchrist gambled on another England collapse by setting the home side 315 to win the fourth Test as Australia remained firmly on course for an Ashes whitewash.

The Australian captain threw down the gauntlet after more than four hours were lost to rain on the fourth day, with only 25 overs bowled.

England, needing to score at around three an over when they began their second innings, reached four without loss before bad light forced an early close on Sunday.

Gilchrist had looked set to bat on until rain, lightning and thunder wiped out more than three hours in the afternoon.

Australia, with a 138-run lead after the first innings and 3-0 up in the five-Test series, moved on to 176 for four in the time available after resuming on 69 for one, with Ricky Ponting leading the way with a run-a-ball 72.

England will face a minimum of 90 overs on the fifth day, with the forecasts suggesting improving weather.

The odds, however, remain firmly in Australia's favour, England having passed 300 just once in the series and only breaching 200 once in a second innings.

To compound England captain Nasser Hussain's problems, the Headingley pitch, freshened up by a series of downpours, continued to deteriorate on Sunday and will certainly help Australia's battery of pace bowlers -- as if they need it after dominating their opponents throughout the series -- on the final day.

Ponting had sparkled in the morning, taking his match tally to 216 after making 114 in the first innings, this after failing to get beyond 20 in his last six tests.

Explosive Start
The Tasmanian batsman and Matthew Hayden put on a quickfire 104 and began as if they had a golf game booked for Monday morning.

Eleven came off left-armer Alan Mullally's first over and 10 off the next from Darren Gough.

Ponting, looking for his third century in three Test innings at the Yorkshire venue, missed out when Darren Gough trapped him leg before with a ball which stayed low.

He looked as surprised at his demise as the English fielders after a morning of one-way traffic interrupted only by a 45-minute rain delay.

His departure saw three wickets fall for 42. The left-handed Hayden followed for 35 just before the break, edging a catch behind off the sporadically dangerous Mullally as the ball cut away from him.

England's all-seam attack -- minus Alex Tudor, perhaps carrying an injury as he was kept out of the firing line by Hussain -- began to extract increasing movement as Australia's lead crossed the 300.

Leading Edge
Mark Waugh, facing Gough, sent a leading edge ballooning just over short square leg before he resorted to a flat-bat slog over mid-off against Mullally, while Damien Martyn, 118 to his name in the first innings, scratched around for six before he was unlucky to be adjudged lbw on the back foot to Andy Caddick.

Ponting came into the match averaging just 12 in the series.

But the selectors' faith in class rather than form has paid off handsomely. Ponting, who also scored a century at the ground in the 1997 series, provided the shot of the session with a swivel and a six off Caddick.

Detailed Scorecard

Mail Cricket Editor