England end 14-year wait in Australia with famous win at MCG
The winter is over. After nearly 14 years, 18 Tests and three-and-a-half tours of frustration, England finally broke free of their Australian curse with a famous victory in the two-day Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Chasing 175 on a devilishly seaming surface that Michael Vaughan described as a "joke", Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley gave England their best opening stand of the series, putting on 51 off only 42 balls with their typical run-towards-the danger brand of cricket. It came on a pitch that had exposed Australia's batting frailties earlier on the second morning, when they were bowled out for 132 inside 35 overs after resuming the day on 4 for 0. Their match aggregate of 284 was their third-lowest in Ashes since the second World War.
Australia's bowlers did not extract quite as much from the pitch as Brydon Carse had earlier in the day during his four-wicket haul, but the hosts kept finding ways to chip away with wickets. A trademark Mitchell Starc fast-and-full ball ended Duckett's bright start off 34. England's punt to send Carse at No.3 didn't quite work but Crawley and Jacob Bethell, batting at No.4, added a decisive 47 for the third wicket, steadying England after back-to-back breakthroughs.
Joe Root played an anchoring hand of 15 off 38 balls, his innings ending with a marginal on-field lbw decision but with England finally crossing the line, he tasted his first Test win in Australia, having been part of the 17 of the 18 non-wins on Australia soil in a row.
Never did England feel behind in the chase. Not when Crawley was pinned in front by Scott Boland with 63 still required. Not when Bethell was caught behind off Boland with 38 to get. Not when Root fell lbw to Jhye Richardson with 17 remaining. And certainly not when Ben Stokes, England's insurance in such tight situations, fell to Starc for the 13th time with 10 still needed. Harry Brook backed up his top score of 41 in the first innings with a more mature 18 off 22 balls to finish the chase and seal a long-awaited win, one that finally ended England's prolonged drought on Australian soil and delivered a Boxing Day Test to remember.
England had a mixed start to the day when Gus Atkinson removed Scott Boland, the nightwatch, but then @L0$ His exit, though, prompted the early introduction of Ben Stokes into the attack and the England captain struck in his first over to trigger a collapse.
Jack Weatherald shouldered arms to an incoming delivery and was bowled, with Stokes looking even more threatening in his second, hitting Marnus Labuschagne on the same finger twice with a rearing delivery before extracting a sharp outside edge.
Carse, who opened the attack with Atkinson, looked in much better rhythm, taking little time to find his length this time. He bowled two maidens in his four-over opening spell, not allowing Head any easy runs to get away. Josh Tongue replaced him and bowled four tight overs as Stokes continued to probe at the other end. In his fifth, he had Labuschagne caught behind by Joe Root at first slip, who took a fine low catch.
Carse then returned to bowl from the opposite end and struck in his first over, bowling the dangerous and well-set Travis Head with a beautiful scrambled-seam delivery on 46. Tongue followed up by removing Usman Khawaja with a short ball as Australia slipped from 61 for 2 to 83 for 5.
The score soon read 88 for 6 when Carse drew a loose waft from Alex Carey and found the edge to the cordon. It was the third wicket to fall in three overs as England headed into the Lunch interval firmly on top.
It was Tongue and Carse again who opened the attack in the afternoon session, but it was the introduction of Stokes once again that brought about the breakthrough. The England captain struck in his first over, getting Cameron Green chasing a wide one to break a crucial 31-run stand between him and Steve Smith.
Carse then went bang-bang, accounting for Michael Neser and Starc in the same over, even as Smith waged a largely lone battle, looking the most comfortable Australian batter while the collapse unfolded at the other end.
The innings ended when Jhye Richardson top-edged Stokes to cover, setting England a target of 175, which they chased down in just 32.2 overs. Starc went for 55 in his 10 overs, unable to save Australia like he has been doing all series.
@B0$ Australia 152 & 132 (Head 46; Carse 4-34) lost to England 110 & 178/6 (Bethell 40, Crawley 37, Duckett 34; Boland 2-29) by 4 wickets
