MELBOURNE: England men’s cricket team registered their first Test win in Australia since 2011 as they beat the home team by four wickets in the final of the Ashes series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday.
England chased down a target of 175 runs on a hard surface to end the thrilling match in less than two days, drawing heavy criticism from the cricket fraternity after 20 wickets fell on the opening day.
England’s last win came on 7 January in the Sydney Test of the 2011 Ashes series.
A decisive second day saw Australia start the second innings at 4/0, leading by 46 runs, but England skipper Ben Stokes and Bryden Garse could run through their batting unit to add to their overnight total of 128 for the remaining 10 wickets.
Travis Head anchored Australia’s second innings with a 67-ball 46 to remain the top scorer, with captain Steve Smith (24) and all-rounder Cameron Green (19) the others to score double figures.
Garse led England’s bowling with four wickets, followed by Stokes with three. Josh Tongu supported his first innings haul of five wickets with two scalps, while Gus Atkinson’s thigh injury forced him off the field.
The tour team, who had already conceded a blockbuster series, got off to a flying start as their opening pair Zach Crawley and Ben Duckett put on a quick 51-run stand, dismissing Mitchell Starc in the final delivery of the seventh over.
Duckett scored 34 off 26 balls with 4 fours and a six.
England promoted Carrs to No.3, but that result backfired when the batting all-rounder was sent back by Jay Richardson in the 10th over.
Following successive wickets, Jacob Bethel joined Crawley in the middle and both batted smartly under pressure to anchor England’s run chase.
Crawley and Bethel put on a crucial 57 and took England’s total past 100 before being caught lbw to opener Scott Boland. He scored 37 runs off 48 balls with 3 fours and a six.
Bethel put on a brief 25-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Joe Root, Boland once again drawing his brave tongue screens. He top scored for the visitors with 40 off 46 balls with 5 fours.
Root and Harry Brook combined for 21 runs to keep England within touching distance of victory.
With 10 more to go with four wickets in hand, England suffered another setback as England captain Stokes fell for 2 off nine balls.
But Brook and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith kept their nerves calm and eventually guided their team to a historic win in Australia, remaining unbeaten on 18 and 3 respectively.
Starc, Boland and Richardson took 2 wickets each in the second innings on the Australian side.