England resumed on day two at 226-6, with Kevin Pietersen starting the day on 67 not out.
Mitchell Johnson condemned England to 255 all out with another one of his fierce spells, claiming 5-63 in the process. Pietersen was again being criticised for his rush of blood that saw him fall for 71 whilst playing a terrible hack across the line to have his stumps castled by the Australian spearhead. Although Pietersen was looking to stretch England's lead whilst batting with a tail that has been dismantled uncharacteristically this series.
England finally fought back in the series, although having already surrendered the sacred urn many a fan questioning why it took them so long to show some fight during this series. This being epitomised by Piers Morgan taking on a ferocious over from Brett Lee in the MCG nets, seeing him hit on the back and hand multiple times. He exclaimed that, unlike others, "I will not be leaving the tour and I am available for selection in Sydney" proving how bad this tour has become for the tourists, a laughable and shambolic showing thus far.
Pacemen James Anderson and Stuart Broad pulled England back into the match. after their batsmen failed once again, returing figures of 3-50 and 3-30 respectively.
Anderson produced a gem of a delivery to remove Michael Clarke as he shouldered arms to be ball hitting the top of off stump. He proved the old adage that "you can't judge a pitch until both teams have batted on it" with Australia collapsing in a fashion that would surmise England's tour thus far.
Australia went from 61-2 to 164-9 in a couple of sessions where only Chris Rogers (61) and Brad Haddin (43*) provided any real resistance to the English seamers.
Chris Rogers' innings showed how hard it is to bat on this Melbourne pitch; lasting 171 balls for his 61 in a knock where he never really looked established. He finally fell attempting to play a lofted drive off Tim Bresnan who pinned the opener down with a sustained spell of bowling outside the off stump which has proved to yield rewards for his Australia counterparts.
Haddin again pulled Australia out of the mire with a counter attacking innings of 43 coming off a mere 49 balls. He hit a fiery Ben Stokes back over his head for six in the process, the gutsy gloveman has proved his worth and more during this series by scoring disciplined and useful runs when constantly being put under pressure from a top order out of form barring Warner and Clarke.
Haddin will resume tomorrow morning, trying to reduce the lead which currently stands at 91 before the final wicket falls, finding himself in a similar position to Kevin Pietersen yesterday, although the latter had more partners at his disposal.