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England threatened to take the Ashes to a decider at The Oval, but Australia triumphed in Manchester to retain the urn
Fight from England but the Ashes retained by Australia – the key points from the final day of the fourth Test…
The Report
Australia have retained the Ashes after beating England by 185 runs at Old Trafford to end the hosts’ hopes of a historic summer double, writes David Ruse.
SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED
England vs Australia
September 12, 2019, 10:00am
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Tim Paine’s side moved 2-1 up with one match to play after bowling England out for 197 on the final day of the fourth Test – but were held up by Craig Overton (21) and Jack Leach (12), who delayed Australia for over an hour in the evening before they claimed the ninth wicket.
Pat Cummins bagged 4-43, including Headingley hero Ben Stokes for just one, to take his tally of wickets in the series to 24, while Josh Hazlewood (2-31) snared the final scalp of Overton with 13.3 overs left in the day.
Australia will now become the first touring team to leave England with the Ashes since Steve Waugh’s 2001 side, having lost away series in 2005 and 2009 under Ricky Ponting and in 2013 and 2015 under Michael Clarke while trying to either retain or regain the urn.
Stats of the Day
Talking Point
The new ball. Australia had removed Buttler and Jofra Archer with the old one to move to the brink of victory but when the fresh one was unfurled, Overton and Leach dealt with it favourably. Their ninth-wicket stand spanned 14 overs across the old ball and new and only ended when Paine called part-time spinner Marnus Labuschagne into the attack, with Leach duly clipping to short leg. The game was over less than two hours later.
Tweets of the Day
Steve Smith: “It feels amazing to know the urn is coming home. I have been here a few times where things haven’t quite gone our way and we haven’t performed to the best of our ability in 2013 and 2015. To win the urn over here was something I wanted to tick off my bucket list, there is another game left and we would like to win the Ashes outright but to know it is coming home is extremely satisfying.”
Tim Paine: “Smith is the best player I have ever seen. His double century in the first innings was phenomenal but [in the second innings] to go out there under intense pressure and not only survive but also push the game forward and put England under pressure – that takes more than just skill. That takes someone who knows the game really well and who has a lot of courage to take teams on when the heat is on.”
Watch day one of the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval, live on Sky Sports The Ashes and Sky Sports Main Event from 10am on Thursday.
You can also follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips on our rolling blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
Sourse: skysports.com
