Melbourne, Dec. 27 -- England stand on cusp of ending their 18-match winless Test match run in Australia as the opening pair of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put them in the driver's seat with a fifty partnership chasing 175 runs to secure the prestigious Boxing Day Test fixture at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), ending the second session on day two on a high.

At the end of the session, England was 77/2, with Crawley (22*) and Jacob Bethell (9*) unbeaten, and the Three Lions left with 98 runs to chase down.

Australia started the second session at 98/6, with Steve Smith (16*) and Cameron Green (6*). England did begin on a shaky note, with Josh Tongue bowling a no ball and conceeding two successive fours against Green to start off the openi...