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Ben Stokes breaks down at SCG, England deliver update on final Ashes future

Mayank

Ben Stokes walked off with adductor issue on Day 4 [Source: HomeOfCricket/X.com]Ben Stokes walked off with adductor issue on Day 4 [Source: HomeOfCricket/X.com]

England began Day 4 of the Ashes fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground with a dreaded sight of captain Ben Stokes walking off injured early on in the morning session, just as they were looking to bundle Australia before the hosts' first innings lead reach an unattainable mark for the visitors to recover from.

Having walked back in the middle of his second over on the day, the skipper did not return for the remainder of the Aussie innings, as they finished with 567 runs on the board and a lead of 183, leaving England in a spot of bother, considering the uncertainty around Ben Stokes' availability for the rest of the match, especially to chase down the big lead that Australia have taken.

Ben Stokes' injury update

Stokes' injury came in the 127th over of Australia's innings, where he had bowled 27.4 overs, dismissing Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne before complaining of the adductor issue before going off the field with 2 balls of the over left. Jacob Bethell bowled the remaining two balls before Josh Tongue got two wickets alongside Will Jacks' one.

Later on, Ben Stokes was seen sitting, wearing the training outfit in the pavilion as the openers, Jacob Bethell and Joe Root batted; however, showing no signs of readiness to bat. 

Currently, he is being assessed for the right adductor muscle strain but it is learnt that the southpaw will remain available to bat in England's second innings. Whether he will bowl in the fourth innings or not remains uncertain as of now.

Stokes has been relentless for England

Ahead of the fourth innings of the SCG Test, Ben Stokes is England's bowler with second-most wickets in the series, with 15 scalps to his name, including a five-wicket haul in Perth. He has bowled 101.1 overs so far in the series, which is also the second highest for the visiting bowlers.

With the bat, he has not yet made substantial contribution, having scored 183 runs in 9 innings at an average of 20.33 with two fifties to his name. He is the fourth England pacer down with an injury in this series after Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson getting ruled out ahead of coming to Sydney for the final Test.

England fighting hard at the SCG

His availability on the last two days of the series remains of utmost importance for the visitors to potentially get their second win of the series and finish the tour on a high with a scoreline of 3-2.

As things stand, Bethell's fifty has put England in a good position as they only trail by 23 runs at the time of writing. Thanks to Ben Duckett's 42(55) and Bethell's 77*(127), they are 160/3 at the end of 39 overs. Joe Root could only manage 6(37), while Harry Brook is unbeaten at 13 off 13.