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AUSTRALIA is tantalisingly poised to claim the fourth Test at the MCG on Sunday on the way to attempting a 5-0 whitewash in Sydney next week.
After an extraordinary recovery on day three, Australia needs a further 201 for victory with all 10 wickets in hand.
The character of the batsmen is on the line on Sunday after the bowlers yet again dragged the team back into a match the batsmen threatened to sacrifice.
At stumps Australia was 0-30 after bowling England out for just 179 in its second innings, leaving Australia 231 to win.
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History says the target is not as easy as it looks. Australia has successfully chased more than 200 at the MCG just three times, with the best 5-287 against England in 1928-29, and the last 8-258 against the West Indies during 1960-61.
Saturday's hero was Nathan Lyon, who claimed 5-50 and became just the fifth Australian off-spinner to achieve 100 career wickets, taking them in front of 63,864 fans. More than 230,000 have watched the first three days of the Test.
Lyon claimed the slow pitch was not to blame for the terrible batting collapses by both teams.
"Australia has to really be patient with our batting. It's going to be a massive challenge, there's no doubt about it," he said.
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"We have to hang in there, be patient and show good intent and try and rotate the strike."
Mitchell Johnson also continued his outstanding summer, claiming 3-25 from 15 overs to have 31 wickets at an average of just 14 apiece.
He is on course to have the best series by an Australian fast bowler since Rodney Hogg took 41 wickets against England during 1978-79.
No longer the timid church mouse, Johnson literally went toe-to-toe with England's most dangerous batsman, Kevin Pietersen, on Saturday.
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Looking all the more intimidating with his bristling 1970s moustache, Johnson was furious with Pietersen (49) pulling away at the last minute because of what his batting partner Jonny Bairstow said was a baby crawling behind the sightscreen.
Umpire Kumar Dharmasena was forced to step between the pair.
However flaky Australia's batting above Brad Haddin has been in the first four Tests, England's has been so much worse. On Saturday it was catastrophic.
Haddin (65 not out) top-scored in a last wicket partnership of 40 with Lyon, reducing Australia's deficit to 51.
Asked how valuable those runs might be a matter of fact Lyon replied "I'll tell you tomorrow."
England got away well. Captain Alastair Cook looked the best he has all series on the way to a brisk 51 in an opening partnership of 65 with Michael Carberry.
This gave England a 116-run lead with all 10 second innings wickets in hand, and a golden opportunity to bat Australia out of the match.
But England lost 4-22 including an extraordinary collapse of 3-1 in six balls and then followed that up later in the innings by losing the last five wickets for just six runs in six overs.
In Brisbane England lost 6-9 and 5-21, in Adelaide it was 5-43 and Perth 5-43 and 4-17.
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