Australia dismissed as England retain the Ashes
It was just a matter of time before England finished the Australian tail to retain the Ashes. This was the first time in over 2 decades that England have beaten Australia Downunder.
An innings and 157 run defeat was one of the biggest in the recent times for Australia. This was the first time that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 suffered two innings defeats in one series and that too in Australia. Overall, this was Australia’s eighth worst defeat ever in
history.
The Australian team could almost sense their fate and star all-rounder Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 had admitted yesterday that no miracle would save Australia from a defeat in this match.
Australia came out with Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin who were the overnight unbeaten batsmen. Johnson’s stay was very limited as his wicket fell very early in the day. He was dismissed for 6 when the total was 172.
After the early loss, Peter Siddle along with Haddin provided some resistance and compiled an 86 run partnership. A few boundaries were hit during this partnership which brought some cheer to the Australian fans.
The partnership was broken by Graeme Swann who grabbed the wicket of Siddle. Soon after that, Ben Hilfenhaus became the fourth victim of Tim Bresnan and Australia was all out for 258 runs.
Haddin played an unbeaten innings of 55 runs which was also the top score for Australia in the second innings. Siddle missed out on an opportunity to score his half century as he was dismissed for 40 runs.
Bresnan picked up four wickets in the innings, including the last one, after which the celebrations started. He got support from all the other bowlers and Swann supported him by picking up two wickets.
England have retained the Ashes but they will still be focused to win the series. They lead the series by 2-1 and will look forward to end the series by either winning or drawing the last test.
On the other hand Australia will play attacking cricket as they would want to draw the series by winning the last match. A defeat or even a draw wouldn't be satisfactory for the fans.
It will be important to see what combination is tried by both the teams for the final match. Some of the key Australian players will be looking forward to perform before the World Cup.
There is uncertainty over the captaincy role of Ricky Ponting who has been unable to perform with the bat. Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, who is foreseen as the next Australian captain has also had a pathetic series with the bat and will look to improve on that in the
final match.
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