Close Australia 551 for 6 dec and 8 for 0 need a further 99 runs to beat England 270 and 387 (Vaughan 145, Key 52, MacGill 5-152)
Scorecard

Michael Vaughan finished the year of his life with the innings of his life as England took the fourth Test into a fifth day at an overcast MCG – and in the process gave themselves the vaguest chance of an improbable victory.

Vaughan lashed a regal 145 off 218 balls as England reached 387 in their second innings, with Stuart MacGill recovering from an early battering to take 5 for 152. That left Australia needing 107 to win, and they reduced the target by eight in a couple of overs before the close.

Even though England will almost certainly go 4-0 down tomorrow morning, this was a very good day for them, one in which the upper lip stiffened and a bit of pride was restored. On a pitch that has got slower and lower as the match has gone on, Vaughan was well supported by Robert Key, who made his first Test fifty, but he was emphatically the star of the show, with an innings chockfull of glorious strokes, the pick of which were some vigorous, almost malevolent, pull strokes. In all he hit 19 fours and three juicy sixes.

This was the pick of Vaughan's six Test hundreds in 2002, and much better than his 177 at Adelaide earlier in the series. There were no dropped catches here, no third-umpire controversy - just batsmanship of real authority and the very highest class, particularly against MacGill, off whom Vaughan scored more than half his runs.

Vaughan flicked his first ball of the day, a full-toss from MacGill, away for four to pass Sachin Tendulkar as the highest Test runscorer in 2002, and it set the tone for a morning session in which he gave MacGill a real pounding. Four times the first ball of a MacGill over was a full-toss; four times Vaughan put it away, one of them for six.

He raced from 72 to 96 in the space of only 12 deliveries with a flurry of boundaries, but before Vaughan could reach his hundred he lost Nasser Hussain (23), who played too early at a masterfully disguised slower ball from Glenn McGrath and ballooned a simple return catch (169 for 3).

Key remained unruffled despite a few false strokes early on, while Vaughan pulled Brett Lee for four to become the first visiting batsman to make two centuries in a Test series in Australia since Tendulkar 11 years ago. Vaughan continued to rattle along either side of lunch.

He drove MacGill over mid-off for six, swept the next ball for four ... and fell to the next. MacGill switched to around the wicket, and had immediate success as Vaughan chopped to Martin Love at slip (236 for 4). Vaughan's dismissal was the cue for Key to open his broad shoulders, and he cracked six fours in 15 balls to move to an impressive half-century off 92 deliveries. Then, on 52, and off the first ball after a drinks break, Key chased a wide one from Jason Gillespie and was smartly caught by Ricky Ponting at second slip (287 for 5).

John Crawley and Craig White carried on the good work, adding 55 in 23 overs before Lee, from around the wicket, got blood out of the stone. Crawley, wafting an angled bat away from his body, dragged on a short one to end a patient innings of 33, and England were 342 for 6.

White (21) went in the next over, tickling MacGill to Adam Gilchrist, and MacGill had another when James Foster (6) carved and Love took a fine, crisp catch, his fourth of an outstanding debut. Andy Caddick slapped a long-hop to cover to give MacGill his third five-for in his last four innings against England, and Gillespie (3 for 71) finished it off by castling Steve Harmison.

England had avoided an unprecedented third consecutive innings defeat, which was a worthy achievement in itself. Now all they need is for someone to steam in po-faced like Bob Willis and scatter Australia tomorrow.

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Rob Smyth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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