England batsmen depart after being bowled out by Australia. (Source: AP)
Australia rounded off a flawless summer of cricket by beating England by an innings and 123 runs on the fifth day of the fifth Test in Sydney to seal the Ashes 4-0 in their favour. The Steve Smith-captained Australia had already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series after the third Test in Perth but as the hosts went after a 5-0 whitewash, England hoped to get something out of the series – alas that is not how things turned out.
After drawing the fourth Test on a flat MCG surface, the cracks opened in the fragile England side with a mediocre first innings while Australia returned with a century each from the Marsh brothers to take a strong lead. In response, England lost four wickets on Day 4 to head towards another dismal defeat. That task was complete on the fifth day despite Joe Root’s desperate attempts at lingering on. The England skipper suffered from dehydration and was kept in care overnight. He returned to bat on Monday morning but could only last till the Lunch break when he retired with illness. Worth noting here that Sydney saw sweltering heat at 47 degrees – highest temperature in the city in 80 years.
Australia’s bowling quartet – Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all picked up 20 wickets each in the series and with the win, the Aussies have regained the Ashes urn.
Australia and England will now play an ODI series followed by a T20 tri-series also featuring New Zealand.