Ashes 2019: 4th Test – England display character but Australia retain the urn

Australia persevered till the end to clinch a famous victory in the fourth Ashes Test at Manchester. The win meant that the Aussies took a 2-1 lead in the series, retaining the famous old urn. The English batters showed a lot of character to frustrate the Aussie bowlers. But the quality of an excellent pace attack eventually prevailed at the end as the Australians clinched a 185 run victory with Hazlewood finally dismissing Overton. The celebrations then went long into the night as a heartbroken England were left rueing their mistakes.

Cummins wrecks havoc again

England started steadily with Jason Roy and Joe Denly showcasing great composure in the middle. It finally seemed that Roy was starting to feel comfortable in his shoes as a Test cricketer. He defended well and put the bad balls away. But it was the excellent Pat Cummins again, who delivered twin strikes before the lunch interval to prop up the Australian spirit. He first bowled Roy out, again exposing the flaws in his technique. The inspirational Ben Stokes soon followed suit as Cummins managed to induce an edge from his bat for Tim Paine to pick up a good catch behind the stumps. The Aussies headed into the interval with their tails up.

Also read: Steve Smith: Australia’s Phoenix rising from the Ashes

The resistance begins

Australia closing in.

Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/rDgrysSBQA#Ashes pic.twitter.com/TSXP9utAXu

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 8, 2019

The Aussies had a quick breakthrough after lunch, as Nathan Lyon finally made an impact in the game. He managed to get the scalp of Joe Denly, who had just completed a patient fifty. Bairstow was then joined on the crease by Jos Buttler. The pair brilliantly played against their natural attacking instincts to blunt out the Australian attack. The sturdy partnership was finally broken by Starc, who trapped Bairstow. Buttler then tried to forge out a partnership with Overton, who showcased excellent defensive technique from the very start. The stand did not last long though, as Hazlewood again managed to extract something extra out of the surface to get rid of Buttler. Archer too could not put up a resistance as he perished against the bowling for Lyon for 1. England were 8 down now and well and truly staring down the barrel.

The long frustration before the eventual delight

The Australians might be forgiven thinking that sealing the victory was only a matter of time. But Craig Overton and Jack Leach embarked upon a blockathon of epic proportions to make a draw a very realistic prospect till the final phase of the match. Overton managed to face 105 deliveries, while Leach lasted 51 as they displayed much better defensive technique than most of the top-order batters in the series. Australia threw everything at them: the pace of Starc, the guile of Hazlewood, the sheer will of Cummins and the turn and bounce of Lyon. Nothing seemed to work.

Finally, an inspirational decision by skipper Paine gave them the breakthrough. He eventually threw the ball to part-time leg-spinner Labuschagne, who managed to land one delivery in the rough. The ball spit up with and Leach found it too difficult to fend it off. Wade took a good catch and the resistance was finally broken. Hazlewood soon managed to bowl a sharp in-swinger which was too good for Overton, as he was trapped plumb. The review call by him delayed the inevitable but once the ball-tracker showed up on the giant screen, the Australians jumped with joy as a hard-earned victory was finally achieved and the Ashes retained.

Brief scores: Australia 497/8 decl. & 186/6 decl. beat England 301 & 197 (Joe Denly 53; Pat Cummins 4-43) by 185 runs.