England Lions moved closer to victory against Australia A at the MCG, enforcing the follow on and taking five second-innings wickets before rain brought a premature close to day three.
The hosts still trail by 72 runs, having been dismissed for 176 in the first innings and finishing the day 180 for five.
Resuming their first innings on 103 for five, Josh Inglis and Jack Wildermuth added 31 more runs to their partnership before Ollie Robinson bowled Inglis for 40.
Wildermuth and Michael Neser put on 23 but Neser’s dismissal – caught behind off Tom Abell – prompted a collapse, with Australia A losing their final four wickets for seven runs in three overs.
Abell got Jackson Bird two balls after Neser, also caught behind by Bracey, while Brydon Carse wrapped up the innings by dismissing Mark Steketee and Mitchell Swepson in consecutive overs. Queensland’s Wildermuth reached his 50 in the penultimate over and remained unbeaten.
Lions captain Keaton Jennings invited his counterpart Moises Henriques to bat again, with Australia 252 behind England’s first-innings total of 428. Australia’s second innings started in much the same way as their first, with an early wicket falling.
Usman Khawaja hit a four and was then trapped in front by Craig Overton in the first over. Number three Nic Maddinson made up for his first innings failure to hit 52 off 55 balls, adding 77 with Marcus Harris, but both men fell within the space of four balls with the score on 81.
Sam Northeast took the catch of Maddinson off Overton, with Dom Bess bowling Marcus Harris in the next over for his first wicket of the match.
Bess took his second in his next over, with Henriques offering a catch to Overton for four to leave the hosts 81 for four. Inglis joined Kurtis Patterson to add 65 before being dismissed by Ollie Robinson for 35.
Wildermuth (16no) and Patterson (43no) put on 30 more before the rain set in to curtail proceedings and take the game into the final day.
Day 2
A half-century from James Bracey and five important wickets from the seamers put England Lions in firm control on day two their day/night against Australia A at the MCG.
The Lions lead by 325 runs as the hosts slumped to 103 for five at stumps with Australia’s top five batsmen, all of whom are capped at Test level, back in the pavilion.
Resuming on 274 for three, Dan Lawrence was dismissed in the second over of the day without adding to his overnight score of 125; his partnership with Dom Sibley finally broken on 219.
Sibley fell eight overs later, edging Mark Steketee behind for 116 and Tom Abell added three runs before falling to the same bowler.
Gloucestershire’s Bracey added 64 with Dom Bess for the seventh wicket before the Somerset spinner became Steketee’s fourth wicket, dismissed for 29.
Bracey passed 50 as England’s tail wagged and when the Lions’ wicketkeeper was dismissed for 65, Brydon Carse (30no) and Ollie Robinson (13) hung around for ten more overs and added 37 for the final wicket.
A tight opening bowling spell was rewarded in the tenth over when Ollie Robinson induced Marcus Harris into a mistake, hitting a catch to Lawrence when on six. Nic Maddinson followed in the next over, falling LBW to Craig Overton for just one.
Kurtis Patterson added 11 before being removed by Carse, bringing captain Moises Henriques together with opener Usman Khawaja. The pair added 30 before Khawaja edged Overton behind to Bracey for 30 and Henriques fell nine runs later for 25, with Overton inducing the edge to the keeper.
Josh Inglis (13no) and Jack Wildermuth (11no) saw out the final six overs of the night to push past the 100 mark, but the hosts still trail by over 300.