Australia vs England, 4th Test, The Ashes, 2025-26 - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Tongue to Boland, out Caught by Brook!! Edged and taken. Tongue gets a fifer and Australia have been bundled out inside 46 overs. Tongue raises the ball and has a big smile on his face. Lovely ball, lands it on a length around off and gets it to straighten. The line forces Boland to have a fiddle at it. Thick outside edge and Brook moves to his left at second slip to catch it safely. Boland c Brook b Tongue 0(1)

Tongue to Neser, out Bowled!! Knocked him over. 136kph, full ball that seams back in sharply off the deck, Neser looks to play an off-drive and ends up playing outside the line of the delivery. Big gap between bat and pad for the ball to sneak through and crash into the middle-stump. Very similar to Smith's dismissal. Neser b Tongue 35(49) [4s-7]

Brydon Carse to Mitchell Starc, out Caught by Stokes!! Stokes takes a superb catch and Starc departs for 1. Plays another aerial stroke and pays the price. Pitched up full and across the left-hander, Starc doesn't bother to keep it down as he shapes to play an uppish drive. Doesn't quite get it off the middle of the bat and the England captain moves back and to his right from mid-off. Stokes stays side-on and makes a tough catch look easy. No-ball check and it's a tight one. Don't think there's any part of the boot behind the line but the TV umpire rules it in favour of the bowling side. Mitchell Starc c Stokes b Brydon Carse 1(6)

Brydon Carse to Neser, FOUR, he's having great fun out there. That's his fourth four in the last two overs. Short of a length delivery outside off stump, Neser rocks back and cuts through backward point to tease the fielder all the way to the fence

Brydon Carse to Neser, byes, FOUR, oh nipped back in a long way, misses the stumps and beats the keeper as well. Jamie Smith had no chance even after diving full length to the left. Neser got beaten on the inside edge

Brydon Carse to Green, out Green Run Out!! Suicidal from the Aussies. High risk run attempted after tapping this short of length delivery with soft hands towards short cover. He took off, paused for a bit and then went again. Brydon Carse quickly moved forward, picked up the ball, turned and smashed the stumps direct with a brilliant throw. Green defended, looked at Neser to ask if he was sure but Neser was always committed and halfway through the run Green realized he made a mistake and England have been gifted this wicket against the run of play. Ump Gaffaney didn't even need another look and gave it on-field. Australia were getting runs for fun and suddenly, this wicket has changed the flow. Green run out (Brydon Carse) 17(34) [4s-2]

Tongue to Neser, leg byes, FOUR, yorker length delivery down leg, Neser misses the glance, but the ball brushes the boot and goes for four more. Soft check for LBW but the ump not keen. 16 off that over

Tongue to Neser, FOUR, oh he's smashed the square drive now for a hat-trick of fours. This guy was struggling to put bat on ball at one point and now he's scoring a flurry of fours. Classic case of hang in there and the runs will come. Even though he was beaten many times, he never stopped himself from trying

Tongue to Neser, FOUR, he goes firm down the ground this time. Full delivery outside off stump, Neser leans forward and drives nicely past the diving mid-off fielder. Quick runs these for the Aussies

Tongue to Neser, FOUR, thick edge escapes past the slip cordon this time. Full delivery angling in, Neser looks to drive, gets healthy edge that finds the gap past gully

Stokes to Neser, FOUR, flashy, edgy and just over gully for four. Full and outside off stump, Neser throws his bat at it and gets a thick edge that teases the fielder overhead to the left, Hands on head moment for the England players

Stokes to Neser, FOUR, low full toss, Neser bends his knee low to drive this square through backward point for a handy boundary. Stokes wouldn't have liked that freebie

Tongue to Green, FOUR, now Green belts the pull out of sight by quickly rocking back to play this short delivery in front of square leg. This was an aggressive hit. Picked the length early and smashed it

Tongue to Green, FOUR, oh gift of a full toss. Green waits and flicks it through square leg for an easy four

Stokes to Neser, FOUR, finally proper bat on ball! Stokes tried to sneak one through the gate as Neser isn't moving his feet well but Neser managed to cover the line of this full delivery and play a pretty good drive down the ground to the right of mid-off

Stokes to Carey, out Caught by Crawley!! You got to be kidding me! This is ridiculous, Ben Stokes. To have a man at leg gully, to have the in-form batter caught tickling straight to hand and walking off cheaply. This is genius stuff. He's done this to people in the past. It looks like a nothing length ball down leg, Carey thought he could glance for four but found the fielder to perfection. Replays confirm that just before this ball Stokes asked Crawley to go to leg slip and looks like Carey didn't spot the change. In fact he was looking to take off on the run the moment it left the bat. He'd be kicking himself in the dressing room. Carey c Crawley b Stokes 20(35)

Atkinson to Khawaja, out Caught by Jamie Smith!! A big noise and England are celebrating, umpire Chris Gaffaney shakes his head and they've reviewed for caught behind - Root was confident at slip and Stokes took his word. Mighty close to the outside edge, RTS confirms a tiny scratch and Khawaja is OUT. Beautifully bowled by Atkinson, he's been on the money since the lunch break, angled in and then left Khawaja very late - the angle opened up the left-hander as he pressed forward, the edge is found and Jamie Smith does the rest. Khawaja c Jamie Smith b Atkinson 29(52) [4s-2]

Atkinson to Khawaja, FOUR, lovely, tad too full and just outside off - Khawaja gets a good stride forward, drives it on the rise and places it straight of mid-off

Tongue to Khawaja, FOUR, more runs for Khawaja, he's looking good in this innings - overpitched by Tongue, he's looking a bit tired and Khawaja drills the drive back past the non-striker, no need to run for those

Tongue to Smith, out Bowled!! Cleaned up! Tongue has been superb this morning and he's nailed the big wicket for England - pitched up and shapes back into the right-hander, Smith shuffled across and then attempted an extravagant drive, gets beaten on the inside edge and the ball crashes into the middle-stump - Smith ended up playing slightly across the line and walks away remonstrating with himself. Tongue has three now and this is turning out to be England's morning at the 'G'. Smith b Tongue 9(31) [4s-2]

Tongue to Khawaja, 2 runs, too full and too straight from Tongue - whipped into the gap wide of square leg and they're back for the second

Brydon Carse to Smith, FOUR, clubbed, too short from Carse and Smith is quick to latch onto it - shuiffles across, rolls his wrists and then pulls it in front of square on the on-side for a boundary

Tongue to Smith, no run, has there been another strangle down leg? Tongue was sure, Jamie Smith wasn't so, but they've taken a chance and have reviewed, short and angling down leg, Smith got inside the line and tried to let it go, did it flick the glove on its way to the keeper? Looks close and we'll need RTS on it - it's brushed the thigh on its way and England have lost the review. Smith knew it and gestured to his partner that it just brushed the trousers on its way to the keeper

Tongue to Smith, FOUR, cracking shot, tad too full and Smith doesn't miss out - leans into the drive, opens the face of the bat and then punches it into the gap wide of mid-off, that'll set him up nicely going forward

Tongue to Labuschagne, out Caught by Root!! This time the edge flies straight down the throat of first slip and Root doesn't drop those - lovely bowling from Tongue, he's been so good already - pitched up in that channel just outside off and the length drew Labuschagne into the drive, but it just held its line, he went hard on the shot and the edge went straight into the lap of first slip. Three wickets inside the first hour and England will feel vindicated at having chosen to bowl first. They've taken drinks at the fall of Labuschagne. Labuschagne c Root b Tongue 6(19)

Tongue to Jake Weatherald, out Caught by Jamie Smith!! Has Weatherald been strangled down leg? Yes, up goes umpire Kumar Dharmasena's finger and he's happy to walk off - Australia have lost both openers now. He'll feel very unlucky to be dismissed in this fashion, but England will not care one bit - full and the angle takes it down leg, Weatherald shuffled across on the flick and gets a thin inside edge, goes to the right of the keeper and Jamie Smith dives to pouch it with glee. Jake Weatherald c Jamie Smith b Tongue 10(23) [4s-1]

Atkinson to Head, out Bowled!! Chopped on! England needed early wickets after asking Australia to bat and Atkinson has struck early - short of a good length and angling across the left-hander, a static Head went chasing after it on the back-foot drive, his feet hardly moved and the thick inside edge crashes back into his stumps. The balance was shot as he went too hard on the shot, he yanks his head back in dismay as he walks off the 'G' on the Boxing day. Head b Atkinson 12(22) [4s-2]

Brydon Carse to Jake Weatherald, FOUR, creamed, overpitched by Carse, too full and too wide of off - Weatherald leans across on his knee and then plays a classical cover-drive, into the gap wide of mid-off and there's a long chase for the fielder, the ball teases him all the way before hitting the ropes - 15 off the over

Brydon Carse to Head, FOUR, back-to-back boundaries and Head is away and running - tad too full and wide of off, Head leans across into another drive and finds the gap in front of square on the off-side, a fast outfield and the chasing fielder has no chance

Brydon Carse to Head, FOUR, beautifully played, a gentle half-volley from Carse as he went full and wide of off - Head leans into the drive, opens the face of the bat at the last moment and places it into the gap wide of cover

Brydon Carse to Head, leg byes, FOUR, too straight from Carse - swings back into Head's pads and beats him on the flick, catches the pad and runs away down to the long leg boundary