Zak Crawley hits stunning century to put England in control of fourth Ashes Test

Zak Crawley hit one of the great Ashes innings as England took control of the fourth Test against Australia at Old Trafford on Thursday.

The opener smashed 189 off 182 balls in a superb display of batting that helped England reach 384-4 at stumps on Day 2, with a lead of 67, as they attempt to level the five-match series at 2-2.

After losing Ben Duckett for just one, after he edged a Mitchell Starc ball behind to Alex Carey, Moeen Ali came in alongside Crawley with the pair then putting on 121 for the second wicket.

From a promising foundation of 61-1, England proceeded to play two outrageous hours of adrenalin-fuelled cricket in the afternoon session. In the space of 25 overs they scored 178 runs, with a run-rate of 7.12 that would not have been unacceptable in a T20.

Moeen departed for 54 – the highest score by a batter at three this series – after pulling a Starc ball to Usman Khawaja who took a fine catch.

But that brought Joe Root to crease and the former captain made his intent clear from the first ball that he pulled for four as he and Crawley set about dismantling an Australian attack badly lacking a full-time spinner.

A fourth Test century, coming in just 93 balls