UK view: Rain, plague or a miracle or England goes to Perth 2-0 down, facing Ashes defeat Joe Root reacts to his dismissal on day four in Adelaide. ENGLAND is praying for rain, plague or a miracle to save them from certain defeat in the second Test in Adelaide, but the visiting journalists at least had one performance on day four to give them heart. With just four wickets remaining and 90 overs to survive, the tourists look certain to go to Perth 2-0 down and at long odds to retain the urn. But with rain forecast for Monday, the UK press corp are hanging on to any glimmer of hope they can find, the brightest of which came from 22-year-old batsman Joe Root, whose well-constructed and gritty 87 was heralded as a coming of age. "Whatever the outcome of this match, and for England a second successive Ashes defeat looks certain unless pest, plague or flood descends on the Adelaide Oval tomorrow, Joe Root's coming of age innings of 87 can be seen as a beacon amid the gloom," wrote The Telegraph's Derek Pringle. It would mean even more if England were to depart for Perth still one Test down, but they are 247 for six and needing to bat another three sessions, or make another 283 runs - a miracle beyond mere mortals. Root appeared wise beyond his years from the moment he pulled on an England cap in India a year ago, but there have been moments recently where he has relapsed into immaturity, such as his ill-conceived dismissal in the first innings here when he was caught on the boundary sweep-slogging at Nathan Lyon. His knock in the second innings was a different beast altogether, being made under as tough conditions as he has experienced in his short career. In fact so highly regarded was Root's innings on Sunday that former Wisden editor Scyld Berry, writing for The Telegraph, suggested it could well have been the knock of a future England captain - perhaps as soon as the next Ashes tour. "It was Joe Root who stopped the rot that has riddled England's woodwork since the tea interval on day one at Brisbane," Berry wrote. The 22 year-old Yorkshireman lived up to his name by putting down roots and refusing to be dismissed from the crease until he was dug out for 87. For four and a half hours Root was as resolute and resilient as Jonathan Trott would have been, had England's original No 3 not been overwhelmed and forced to go home. It achieved a modicum of self-respect amid the humiliations. Moreover, somebody has to captain England on their Ashes tour of Australia in 2017-8, and given the rate at which Alastair Cook's runs are drying up under the cares of captaincy, it could well be Root. Cook is one of England's biggest concerns heading into the final three Tests of this Ashes series. Kevin Pietersen is another, and even though he made a gutsy half century on Sunday, another dismissal at the hands of Peter Siddle has Vic Marks of The Guardian wondering how the visiting top six can turn things around. Forget Mitchell Johnson, the nation's new hero, for a moment. And consider Peter Siddle. By Sunday night he only had five wickets in the series," Marks wrote. Joe Root and Kevin Pietersen congratulate each other on their 100 run partnership. Yet he had played an integral part in Australia's success. He has dismissed Ian Bell once - in Brisbane - and more strikingly Kevin Pietersen twice in Adelaide. If he only dismisses Pietersen in this series that would be enough to satisfy the Australians. A pattern is emerging. The Australians are not that keen to launch Johnson at Pietersen, though he did dismiss him in Brisbane. Johnson will get Pietersen's juices flowing and that is when anything might happen; he just might catch fire. Instead the preferred strategy is to bore Pietersen out and the best person to do that is Siddle, the self-effacing, unpretentious workhorse in the Australian attack.