The Ashes LIVE: Updates and scorecard as England back in to bat after Australia declare

England won a dramatic Test match last time out at Headingley thanks to the heroics of Ben Stokes.

Joe Root and co. are looking to win again at Old Trafford with the Ashes in the balance.

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, and are in control following a stellar second day of batting action.

Steve Smith notched an impressive 211 runs as the visitors looked to power the Ashes away from England’s reach.

England are now faced with trying to avoid the follow-on but are now close although only have two wickets in hand at lunch on day four.

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Story of Day Four

England just about managed to avoid the follow-on at Old Trafford after racking up a first innings total of 301, with Rory Burns and Joe Root top scoring.

Stuart Broad got Trevor Bayliss’ men off to a great start after Australia returned to the crease, trapping David Warner lbw as the batsman endured another nightmare Test.

Broad soon took his second victim of the innings, trapping Marcus Harris lbw, with Jofra Archer then stepping up to the mark as Marnus Labuschagne experienced the same fate.

Archer reduced Australia to 44-4 as he clean-bowled Travis Head, bringing Matthew Wade in to bat alongside the visitors’ talisman Steve Smith.

Australia recovered from England’s flurry of wickets to build to 149-5 – but it was then that Joe Root and co. finally made the breakthrough they’d been so desperate for.

Ben Stokes caught a lofted Smith shot from a Jack Leach ball on the boundary after the batsman had tried to up the ante.

Archer then claimed his third wicket of the innings six balls later as Wade edged to diving England wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow.

Australia declared on 186-6 – setting England a target of 382 runs to win the fourth Test and take control of the Ashes series.

Burns, though, failed to show the resistance of the first innings as he edged a Pat Cummins ball to extra cover to go for a duck.

And Root soon followed him back into the pavillion as Cummins clean-bowled him, to leave England 0-2.

Story of Day Three

Morning rain meant that the entire first session was written off, with the teams heading out to the field at 1.30pm.

Nightwatchman Craig Overton didn’t last long, departing for four after edging from Josh Hazlewood.

Joe Root and Rory Burns steadied the ship as they tried to avoid the follow-on, with England reaching 125-2 before Tea.

The duo added another 40 runs before a quickfire Hazlewood double ended their partnership, with Jason Roy first replacing Burns and Ben Stokes coming in for Root.

Australia’s superb spell after Tea continued as Hazlewood went 4-46 by clean-bowling Roy, to leave England on 196-5 – 102 runs short of what was needed to avoid a follow-on.

England added just four more runs before poor light at Old Trafford meant Day Three was brought to a premature close by the umpires.

Story of Day Two

Rain disrupted much of the opening day’s action in Manchester, but the teams headed out onto the pitch on time for Day Two.

Australia started brightly in the morning session, before Travis Head departed for 19, leaving the Aussies on 183-4.

The visitors put on another 41 runs, until Matthew Wade was caught by Joe Root, from the bowling of Jack Leach. Wade departed for 16, leaving captain Tim Paine to partner Smith.

It didn’t take long for Smith to reach his latest century against England, as Australia headed into Lunch at 246-5. The second session of the day firmly belonged to Australia.

Smith and Paine added more than 120 runs to the total, as the former reached 150 not out. Smith was caught from a Leach delivery, and was walking to the pavilion. But, he turned back around after it was revealed the spinner had bowled a no ball.

Paine soon reached his 50, having previously been dropped by Jason Roy on eight, and the Aussies went into Tea at 369-5. England finally made a breakthrough in the first delivery after Tea; Craig Overton dismissing Paine. Pat Cummins only added four to the score before being caught after a Jack Leach delivery.

Joe Root made the breakthrough that England craved, catching Smith for 211. But, Mitchell Starc put on 54, while Nathan Lyon added 26 to the score as the Aussies eyed a declaration. Paine finally gave the declaration at 497-8.

England were made to bat for around 40 minutes in the final session of the day. Joe Denly was caught at short-leg by Matthew Wade for four, and England finished the day on 23-1, trailing Australia by 474 runs.

Story of Day One

David Warner fell for 0 in the first over of the match, after being caught behind from Stuart Broad. The Australian is now averaging 11 runs per innings since the start of the Ashes.

Australia fell to 29-2 after Broad then trapped Marcus Harris for lbw. The opener departs for 13.

Heading into the lunch, the tourists made 98-2, with Marnus Labuschagne edging closer to a 50. But, rain delayed the start of play, with the players enjoying an extended lunch break.

The partnership continued to grow heading into Tea, before Craig Overton finally bowled Labuschagne for 67, leaving Australia on 144-3.

Travis Head came into the attack, and added 18 runs to the score before the second session came to an end, with the away side on 170-3.

The rain continued to pour shortly before the players were due to return to action, causing the start of play to be delayed.

But, after half an hour without any action, the umpires decided that there wouldn’t be any more overs on Wednesday.

England captain Joe Root hopes the way his side beat Australia at Headingley can prove the difference at Old Trafford.

“You come off the back of a win like that, it’s a huge lift for everyone in the squad,” Root said.

“For that game to unravel the way it did has helped us turn up here full of confidence.

“But we want it to be part of a special series and not just a one-off match. It’s a great incentive for the group to carry that feeling forward and transfer it into a performance.