Australia openers frustrate England before more bad weather brings day four to a close as visitors threaten to rain for Stuart Broad parade

If Stuart Broad were really writing his own scripts, it’s fair to assume he wouldn’t have added a final twist that sent Australia running for a record-breaking target.

That would certainly be one more squib than the rain that brought a soggy Manchester-style conclusion to the penultimate day of what has become Broad’s farewell test.

There is still some way to go on Monday if Australia is to reach 384 and start the second highest successful chase in their history and the highest by any distance at the Oval.

But they made big strides toward rain on Broad’s parade on Sunday by cruising to 135, not only without a loss, but without even the semblance of an opportunity or a difficult moment.

Two Australian batsmen almost certainly saying their own goodbyes. Ashes performances in David Warner and Usman Khawaja were completely carefree as Broad took the field for the last time as one of England’s greatest bowlers.

Not even the wave of emotion caused by Broad’s decision on Saturday to devote time to a truly outstanding career was enough to inspire England to deliver the final big push expected of them and clinch victory in the league table get what they deserve.

Instead, the ball stubbornly refusing to swing or spin, England and this Oval crowd poised for a perfectly wide farewell were surprisingly flat – and Warner and Khawaja helped themselves to unbeaten half-centuries with a minimum of fuss.

The fourth day also started so well. The sun shone on Broad as he made his way onto a ground that has hosted so many famous farewell moments alongside the man he will always be inseparable from in his attacking partner Jimmy Anderson.

This time, however, they were together as last wicket partners with England seeking a lead already at 377 and seemingly already out of Australia’s reach.

As Broad descended the steps of the Bedser Stand he was greeted with a guard of honor of Australian players with whom he came into contact so often in a career defined by his success in the thick of Ashes’ battle.

At the bottom of the stairs, Broad briefly put his arm around his old friend’s shoulders as if to encourage him to share the spotlight, but Anderson, 41 on Sunday, was having none of it, as if to emphasize that he has no intention of letting Broad to follow. the sunset.

Perhaps Anderson was doubting that by the time he walked off when it rained an hour after lunch, as he was again harmless in bowling 10 overs without his signature move and any kind of threat.

But any thought of England ending the day under pressure was far from the minds of the big two as Broad pulled what would prove to be his last ball in Test cricket from Mitchell Starc over the ropes for six. Only West Indies and Middlesex’s Wayne Daniel has ever done that before in Test cricket.

Anderson would fall to Todd Murphy before Broad could face another ball, but England looked to have left Australia with an insurmountable challenge to take their first Ashes series victory in 22 years.

It doesn’t look so terrifying now. Warner, aged 36, has set his own retirement date for his Sydney home ground in January when Australia take on Pakistan, but he started needing a big score here to avoid Australia pulling the plug on him before he gets there can come.

That Broad script would have dictated he quickly got his man in Test cricket for the 18th time, but there would be no alarm for Warner against his nemesis after just passing Broad in front of Ben Duckett in the gully when he was seven.

The only time Warner got in trouble after that was when Anderson did what die-hard Jimmy viewers thought was the first beamer they can ever remember bowling, a nasty pitch that Warner somehow hit for four as he fell off his feet.

By the time the rain came, Warner had reached 58, while his fellow 36-year-old in Khawaja had moved up to 69, once again passing Zak Crawley as the leading points scorer in this Ashes, but in twice the time.

England lacked energy and ideas. Moeen Ali was introduced as early as the 10th over in an attempt to replicate the slow spin and occasional uneven bounce that saw Nathan Lyon’s understudy Murphy finish with four wickets.

But it soon became clear that he had not yet fully recovered from his groin injury on the first day and Moeen was quickly replaced by Joe Root as England searched in vain for the breakthrough.

It was surprising that Ben Stokes held off Mark Wood until the 33rd left, but it seemed they waited until the ball had deteriorated and Wood could find a reverse swing, but there was little of it left for their fastest bowler when he was finally introduced.

Wood generated enough speed to deliver a nasty blow to Khawaja that damaged both his helmet and the ball, but the new one reacted just as callously in English hands after the umpires changed it as the old one and Australia remained unmoved.

They will return on Monday and need another 249 with all wickets intact to pull off what would, quite frankly, be a travesty of a score in a 3-1 win after England have played almost all the cricket and provided most of the entertainment in these Ashes.

For now, introspection can wait, as a few quick wickets this morning would change the landscape significantly, but Broad needs to write that final chapter and get his legs pumped one last time if the old foe isn’t to crash his side.