Rain affects fourth day of 4th Ashes Test
Melbourne: Rain played the spoilsport after Australia scored 103/2, trailing by 61 runs on the fourth day of the fourth Ashes Test against England here on Friday.
David Warner (40) and skipper Steven Smith (25) were at the crease when play was abandoned for the day.
After putting up 327 in its first innings, Australia got off to a steady start in the second innings as opener Cameron Bancroft (27) and Warner forged a 50 run partnership before Bancroft was dismissed by Chris Woakes.
Usman Khawaja (11) then joined Warner in the middle but failed to rise to the occasion as he was sent packing by James Anderson after adding a few more runs to the board.
Then Australian skipper Smith joined in the middle and stabilised the innings with Warner.
Earlier, England were bowled out at the overnight score of 491. Anderson was dismissed by Pat Cummins on the very first ball of the day and opener Alastair Cook remained unbeaten at 244.
For Australia, Cummins scalped four wickets while Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon took three wickets each
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Brazil's Ancelotti raises doubts about whether Neymar will reach the 2026 World Cup
Sao Paulo (AP): Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti raised doubts about whether Neymar will be in his squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Italian has yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May.
“If Neymar deserves to be (in the squad), if he is, well, better than others, he will play in the World Cup and that's it. (But) I don't have debts to anyone,” Ancelotti said at a press conference in Washington on Friday following the draw.
Brazil is in Group C with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland.
“If we speak about Neymar, we have to speak about other players,” Ancelotti added. “We have to think about Brazil with or without Neymar, with or without other players. Our final list we will make after the FIFA fixtures in March.”
The 33-year-old Neymar has never fully recovered from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he's been key for Santos in its fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship.
On Wednesday, he scored a hat trick for Santos despite a muscular injury. He is expected to play again on Sunday against Cruzeiro.
Ancelotti said Brazil does not have a “referential player” at the moment, a tag for the most valuable player that Neymar has mainly worn since the 2014 home World Cup.
“We have one of the world's best goalkeepers, some of the best defenders, top midfielders and some players up front. I don't want players who want to be the best in the world, I want players who want to win the World Cup,” Ancelotti said.
Asked about his team's group, Ancelotti said Brazil can top it.
“We can win all three matches, our idea is very clear. We need to be competitive during the entire World Cup. Our goal is to play in the final and for that to happen you need to face very strong teams anyway.”
Brazil won the last of its five World Cup trophies in 2002.
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