The fourth Test of the Ashes series between Australia and England ended in a nail-biting draw on Day 5 on Sunday (January 9) at the SCG.
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The fourth Test of the Ashes series between Australia and England ended in a nail-biting draw on Sunday (January 9).
England had begun the day having lost no wickets, but were 8 down with 17 overs left in the day. A salvage job featuring Jack Leash and Stuart Broad was the need of the hour.
The two appeared to have gotten the job done, until the final ball of the 100th over. Steve Smith, in to bowl as the light was so poor only spinners were allowed, got Leach to nick one to David Warner at slip.
The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) erupted, as the two local lads combined for a wicket that kept the home team’s hopes of a whitewash alive.
However, Broad and James Anderson managed to bat through the final two overs. As a result, the away team salvaged a draw – and put an end to any prospects of a whitewash having already lost the Ashes in the first three Tests.
It was a fitting result, as England had finally shown some fight in the series. However, they are still winless in four Tests Down Under and would like that to change.
The Aussies, by contrast, would love to end the series 4-0 – not just for the humilation, but for the World Test Championship (WTC) points on offer.
England started the day at 30-0, needing 358 more runs to win. A draw always seemed the likeliest of results the visitors would target.
However, the signs of danger were there early on as Haseeb Hameed was fortunate to be granted a reprieve. Hameed edged one off Pat Cummins to Alex Carey, but the ball simply ended up hitting Carey on the wrist.
His time at the crease didn’t last long thereafter; Scott Boland got Hameed to edge one to Carey, who went with both hands this time and claimed the catch.
Crawley, however, soldiered on and managed to bat a while alongside Dawid Malan. But it was the latter who threw away his wicket in terrible circumstances.
He went for a slog shot off Nathan Lyon but missed entirely and the ball duly rattled into his stumps.
Crawley brought up his half-century but would also end up falling about 6 overs later. Cameron Green bowled a wonderful in-swinging yorker that trapped Crawley plumb in front of the stumps.
He went for a review but it seemed hopeful, and indeed it was; he had to walk back after it was an unsuccessful review.
Joe Root and Ben Stokes then put on 60 runs for the fourth wicket and frustrated the Aussies. The hosts didn’t help themselves with some sloppy bowling on a track that didn’t have too much going on.
Root would eventually fall on 24 to Boland, whose relentless accuracy was rewarded with him getting the skipper to edge one to Carey.
Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow would also end up dismissed but England hung on in the end.
