Sydney: England’s maligned tail piled on runs before the tourists were bowled out for 346 in their first innings at lunch on the second day of the final Ashes Test here today.
Newcomer Tom Curran smacked 39 off 65 balls and Stuart Broad clubbed two sixes in his 31 off 32 balls as England lashed out late in the extended morning session.
Steve Smith pulled off a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss Dawid Malan for 62, but the Australians were guilty of two embarrassing dropped catches to give England a helping hand.
The Australian skipper made an athletic diving catch to end the dangerous batsman’s innings inside the opening half- hour’s play.
Smith, who had dropped his previous three chances over the last two Tests, flung out his left-hand at second slip to make the catch off Mitchell Starc.
Malan, who was dropped by Smith at slip on Thursday’s opening day on 34, was not so fortunate this time to end his four-hour stay off 180 balls.
Malan, who hit a century in the third Perth Test, has scored 378 runs at 47.25 in the series, second only to Alastair Cook for England.
It was another outstanding catch by Australia in the innings following Mitchell Marsh’s flying effort to dismiss Joe Root for 83 yesterday.
But Australia then dropped two regulation catches in the space of four balls nearing drinks.
Pat Cummins put down Curran on 21 at mid-on off Nathan Lyon then in Cummins’ next over Josh Hazlewood made a dreadful hash of a skied catch at mid-on from Moeen Ali on 22.
It was the 11th dropped catch by Australia’s fielders in the series, with five coming off Lyon’s bowling.
But Cummins made partial amends when he had Moeen caught off his glove to a lifter for 30, giving wicketkeeper Tim Paine his fourth catch of the innings.
Broad and Curran hit out late in the session with Broad clubbing Cummins for two sixes to the delight of England’s Barmy Army supporters.
He finally fell to a bat-pad catch by Cameron Bancroft for 39 off 65 balls to give Cummins his fourth wicket.
Broad went for another heave on 31, only to top-edge behind the wicket for Smith to take the catch and give spinner Lyon his only wicket.
Debutant Mason Crane was the last man out, run out for four.
Australia have already clinched the Ashes with an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-Test series.
