England level India's WTC record with first-ever Test win in Australia since 2011
England won the fourth Ashes Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in just two days to end their winning drought down under after almost 15 years. This is their first-ever Test win in Australia since 2011 but they have already lost the Ashes.
The Boxing Day Test between Australia and England has ended in just two days, much to the disappointment of Cricket Australia. Even worse, Australia lost to England at home in Tests for the first time in 19 Tests and 15 years. The pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground has come under the scanner as 34 wickets fell in six sessions with England chasing the target of 175 runs in the fourth innings. With this win, England have become the team with the joint second most wins (35) in WTC history, equalling India in this aspect.
Teams with most wins in WTC history
Australia - 39
India - 35
England - 35
South Africa - 25
Coming back to the Test match, sense prevailed in the English camp, probably for the first time on this tour, as they smartly approached the tricky run-chase. Apart from sending Brydon Carse to bat at number three, they batted superbly with their openers, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley notching up their first half-century stand of the series.
Duckett was the aggressor up front in the chase as he took the attack to Mitchell Starc and Michael Neser, catching Australia by surprise. He also rode his luck during his stroke-filled stay in the middle, but eventually got a searing yorker from Starc to see his stumps shattered. However, the opening duo had already whittled 51 runs away from the target and Crawley, yet again, looked in his element.
After Carse's dismissal, he found an able ally in Jacob Bethell, who also played his shots and England finally started to believe as the duo took the team's score beyond the 100-run mark. It was a mere formality after that and even though Australia kept picking up wickets, England were always ahead and managed to get over the line with four wickets in hand.
Ben Stokes, England Test skipper, was also relieved to have finally got on the board after a tough stay down under over the last month or so.
Australia capitulate in second innings after a good start
61/2. An overall lead of 104 runs. Australia were in a brilliant position after the first hour's play on the second day at the MCG. But England found the spark just at the right time to trigger a collapse as the hosts were reduced to 88/6 in the final half hour before lunch.
Steve Smith fought his way along with Cameron Green to forge a 31-run stand for the seventh wicket but the latter edged one off Stokes and it didn't take much time for England to wrap up the tail. Interestingly, Smith didn't look to farm strike either when the number 11 Jhye Richardson walked out to bat as Australia were eventually skittled for just 132 runs in their second essay.
Even then, a target of 175 on the toughest MCG surface was not going to be easy for England. Australia had a menacing bowling attack that had bundled them out for 110 runs in the first innings. But the visitors, for once, grabbed the opportunity and batted with sense to pull one back on the Aussies and, most importantly, finally managed to win a Test in Australia. At least, England can take back this massive positive in an otherwise hopeless tour for them so far.
Can they replicate a similar performance in Sydney to wrap up the series on a high? Well, the bigger question is will Australia dish out another MCG like surface again? There are going to be repercussions of this two-day finish at the MCG but for now, we move on to Sydney where the home team will be keen on making it 4-1 and not 3-2 for England to get the 'moral victory' out of the tour.