Fourth Test, 1948 Ashes Series - 26 July: Day Four

26 July: Day Four

Sunday was a rest day, and the match resumed on Monday morning. In the third over of the day, Lindwall was the last man out at 458, leaving Australia 38 runs in arrears on the first innings. Bradman's men had added only one run to its overnight score of 457/9. Bedser took the final wicket as Lindwall edged, and Crapp took the catch low down in the slips with his left hand. Bedser ended with 3/92 and Laker 3/113, while Pollard and Yardley ended with two wickets each. England's use of Cranston as an all rounder had not been successful; he conceded almost four runs per over without taking a wicket. Although England only had a slight lead, Australia had the disadvantage of being a bowler short due to Toshack's injury. This meant Johnston and Johnson among the slower bowlers were left to exploit the wearing pitch.

For the remainder of the fourth day, England set about extending their lead. Early in the innings, the capacity crowd encroached substantially onto the ground and the umpires spent eight minutes trying to force them back to the edge of the official playing area, but they again spilled over. Initially, Hutton and Washbrook played cautiously to see off the new ball before trying to lift the run rate. Lindwall's first two overs were maidens, but Hutton and Washbrook scored 21 runs from his next five overs, while taking only five from Miller's six overs. The English batsmen attacked the bowling and reinforced their aggressive strokeplay with quick running. England reached lunch at 72/0 with Hutton on 40 and Washbrook on 28. Washbrook was particularly confident and Bradman decided to not risk Johnson in the morning session.

The afternoon session continued with further spectator encroachments. After lunch, Bradman set defensive fields with the intent of restricting the scoring, and used his remaining bowlers in short spells to conserve their energy, expecting a long day in the field. The absence of Toshack also meant Loxton had a substantial workload with the ball. The English batsmen continued to accelerate, and when Bradman finally brought Johnson into the attack, they targeted him. Washbrook hit a straight six from Johnson, and Hutton followed suit to take England from 98 to 104. For the second time in the match, the English openers had put on a century stand, and the shot also brought up Hutton's 50 in 125 minutes. This feat made Hutton and Washbrook the first pair to make century opening partnerships in both innings of a Test on two occasions; they had done this for the first time against Australia in the Fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval in 1946–47. Bradman replaced Johnson with Lindwall immediately, and Washbrook responded by cutting the paceman for four to reach his half-century. Lindwall responded with two bouncers. Washbrook then hooked one a short ball from Johnston and got a top edge, but Bradman failed to take the catch.

Washbrook then attempted another hook from Johnston towards deep square leg. Connecting with the middle of the bat, he imparted much power on the ball, which flew flat and never went more than six metres above the ground. Harvey quickly moved in across the outfield from the square leg fence and bent over to catch the ball at his ankles while still on the run. Fingleton called it "the catch of the season—or, indeed, would have been had Harvey not turned on several magnificent aerial performances down at The Oval ". O'Reilly doubted "whether any other player on either side could have made the distance to get to the ball, let alone make a neat catch of it". He further said the "hook was a beauty and the catch was a classic".

Johnson then removed Hutton for 57 without further addition to the total, caught by Bradman on the run, leaving England at 129/2. The Yorkshire batsman went for a lofted shot and mistimed it high in the air after being beaten in flight, and the Australian captain ran backwards from mid-on to complete the catch. This meant the two new batsmen at the crease, Edrich and Compton, were still yet to score, and the second new ball was only six overs away, so they had to preserve their wickets while conditions were at their most favourable for Australia's fast bowlers. During a slow period in which only 15 runs came in half an hour, Edrich and Compton were pinned down by defensive field settings with no slips in place. After 45 minutes, Compton premeditated a charge down the pitch and hit Johnson to the leg side for a boundary. The pair accelerated, Compton taking risks in cutting Johnson against the spin. Australia took the new ball and each batsman hit a boundary to bring up the fifty partnership, which took an hour. Worried by the substantial and hazardous craters he and the other bowlers had created in the pitch while following through on the left-hand side of the crease, Lindwall changed to bowling from around the wicket and was warned by umpire Baldwin for running on the pitch, before reverting to over the wicket, although he delivered from the edge of the crease to avoid the holes. O'Reilly said Baldwin's warning to Lindwall had played into Australia's hands as the bowler's follow through from around the wicket was accentuating a rough patch outside the right-hander's off stump, which the English bowlers could target when Bradman's men had to chase the target. Compton then hit boundaries with hooks and pulls from Lindwall and Johnston and England went to tea at 209/2. Compton was on 42 and Edrich 33.

After the interval, Bradman continued with his strategy of rotating his bowlers in short spells, and set a defensive, well-spread field for Johnson's bowling. Edrich hit three consecutive boundaries from Johnson before lofting a fourth ball into the crowd for six. He then passed his half-century—his fourth consecutive Test score in excess of 50—before Lindwall trapped him lbw for 51 to leave England at 232/3, ending a third-wicket partnership of 103. Crapp came in and added 18 before he was bowled by Lindwall, inside edging an attempted forcing stroke through the off side from the back foot. This left England at 260/4, and precipitated a mini-collapse. Yardley deliberately lifted Lindwall over the vacant slips region and reached seven before he fell to Johnston, caught by a leaping Harvey while attempting a lofted shot. Johnston then had Cranston caught behind for a duck with only a further run added to leave England at 278/6, a lead of 316. Evans came in and edged his first ball through the slips at a catchable height for four. Compton drove Lindwall for a boundary but then fell to Johnston for 66, caught by Miller at cover. England were 293/7 with no recognised batsmen remaining, having lost 4/33. Wicket-keeper Evans was joined by Bedser, and the pair added 37 before Miller removed the latter. Laker came in and helped Evans to add a further 32 as England reached 362/8 at the close of the fourth day. Evans—mainly through boundaries—had helped England to add 69 runs in the last 45 minutes of play.