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Summary
Australia v England, 5th Test, Sydney, 4th day Australia 280 & 213/7 (67.0 ov) England 644 Australia trail by 151 runs with 3 wickets remaining England are on the verge of a third innings win over Australia and a crushing 3-1 Ashes series victory. At stumps on day four, the Aussies were 213-7, three wickets from defeat and still 151 behind as England's fans roared their approval in Sydney. Earlier, Matt Prior stroked 118 from 130 balls as England converted an overnight 488-7 into 644, their highest Test total on Australian soil. It would be England's first series win in Australia since the 1986-87 tour. Prior put on 102 with Tim Bresnan before England were all out soon after lunch, but the real drama of the day was still to come. England's three seamers each struck twice and Australia completely lost their way when the ball began to reverse swing after tea, with five wickets tumbling in the final session alone, including two in consecutive Chris Tremlett deliveries.Predictions that the SCG wicket would deteriorate from Thursday onwards under a hot sun did not come to fruition as Prior (54 not out) and Bresnan (0) continued a marathon England innings at the start of the day. Feasting on balls of full length aimed well outside off-stump - in one of the Sussex wicketkeeper's favourite areas - Prior leant into a series of drives, intelligently angled to avoid a packed field on that side, or lofted with precision over the men positioned on that side. Bresnan, who faced 103 balls for his 35, was unable to achieve the fluency of his partner, but nevertheless got in some important batting practice before the impending one-day series. The two right-handers ran Australia ragged in a stand of 102 from only 28.2 overs, a ground record by an England eighth-wicket pair. It was the third century stand in succession as the lower order continued a spectacular conversion from 226-5. Shirtless England fans, having absorbed the news that Paul Collingwood had decided to make this Test his last, dealt out some fierce taunts towards seamer Mitchell Johnson, the Australian hero in Perth. Johnson was the most expensive bowler, but enjoyed a modicum of revenge when having Bresnan caught in the slips. Prior, too, finally had to depart, nicking a high bouncer from Ben Hilfenhaus - although the dismissal was delayed as umpire Billy Bowden radioed the third official to check Hilfenhaus had not sent down a no-ball.
