Stuart Broad took the last wicket and the England people started chanting his name. A wonderful ending of a career. England wins the final test by 49 runs. Now the series will be 2-2. Australia will retain the Ashes. Australia made 334/10 in their 2nd innings.
England bowled brilliantly and took all the 10 wickets, despite being interrupted by the rain. Huge credit to the bowlers who achieve this impossible task.
Australia batted superbly on the 4th day and without losing any wicket they scored 135 runs. But at the start only 5 more runs were added and Woakes took the first wicket of the day by dismissing David Warner. Warner scored 60 runs. (140-1). In his next over, Woakes gets the wicket of another opener Usman Khawaja. Both the openers were out within a span of 1 run only. Khawaja made 72 runs. (141-2).
Marnus Labuschagne was the next man to depart after scoring 13 runs. Mark Wood took his wicket. (169-3). Then a brilliant partnership built between Steve Smith and Travis Head of 95 runs. This time spin works and Moeen gets the wicket of Head. Head looked good but couldn’t convert his innings to a big one and got out on 43 runs. (264-4). The other set batsman, Smith had to depart when Woakes got his wicket. From that moment it changes the match atmosphere. Smith scored 54 runs. (274-5).
In the next over, Moeen Ali dismissed Mitchell Marsh. Marsh only contributed with 6 runs only. (274-6). Woakes gets Starc in the next over. Starc is unable to open his account and goes for a duck. (275-7). Moeen now took the wicket of Australian skipper, Pat Cummins. Cummins made only 9 runs. (294-8).
Then the man who played his last international match, Broad came and got the wicket of Todd Murphy. Murphy was looking good but unable to get the winning run. He made 18 runs. (329-9). Then again, Broad showed his magic and dismissed the last batsman, Alex Carey. Crowd stands and chants his name. Carey made 28 runs. (334-10).
Chris Woakes gets 4 crucial wickets. Moeen Ali gets 3 wickets. Broad gets his last 2 international wickets. Wood settles with 1 wicket.
Mitchell Starc Awarded Australia Player of the Series.
Chris Woakes Awarded Player of the Match and England’s Player of the Series.
Pat Cummins, Australia Captain,
“Two really high quality teams and it was a wonderful series to be part of. I didn’t even entertain the conversation of a draw, we were here to win the Ashes and it was a great day of Test Cricket. We can be hugely proud of retaining the Ashes. Not easy to do that against a quality England side.
….There were so many moments in this series, that’s what makes Ashes so special, the crowd and the pressure, a couple of moments if you could change then the result would have been different. Great competitor, always saves his best for Australia, he has had some hard days in Australia but always keeps coming and I wish him all the best.”
Ben Stokes, England Captain,
“Feel really good. 2-2 is a fair reflection at the end of the series. Australia, WTC champions, absolute quality team. Don’t think many teams would’ve been able to respond like we did after being 2-0 down. Very proud of the entire team and the effort they put in. Having played a lot of cricket here, you know what it’s like in the 4th innings.
….Australia played really well yesterday but turning up here and knowing that you still need 250 runs is really tough. The wickets came in clusters like they usually do. Our mentality was great. Real good, the way in which Woakes has come in. Not only with the ball but also with some crucial runs. He did an amazing job in the first two Test matches he came in. Wood could barely walk today, he was very sore but he gave it his best and still says he was very ready to bowl.
….I’ve played with Broad for a long time. He’s been an unbelievable performer for England. Watching him has been amazing. There was no doubt he was going to pick up those two wickets. Moeen came in after an unfortunate injury to Jack Leach. I picked him because I knew what he’s capable of. He was just incredible. We’ll let Moeen reflect on everything and make his decision about the India series.
….Coming into the series, if you look back a couple of weeks ago, it would’ve been difficult for any team to bounce back from 2-nil down. What a series this has been. We’ve been very vocal about keeping Test Cricket alive. This series has been amazing. It’s attracted so many new fans. It’s the purest form of the game and I absolutely love it. It’s hard to lose an appetite when you love Test cricket as much as I do.”