On this day in 2018 – Australia win the Ashes 4-0 with a clean sweep in Sydney
Australia hosted England in the 2017-18 season for the 5-match Ashes Test series in the hope of regaining the prestigious urn. England were not in the best of form playing away from home as they won just one of the seven Tests in Asia. They had more troubles going into the Australian tour as the all-rounder Ben Stokes was pulled out on disciplinary roads.
A poor start for England
However, all the talks seemed to have settled down when the warm-up matches went in England’s way. But the situation became disastrous for the English team once the Test series began as they suffered a 10-wicket defeat in the series opener at the Gabba. The 2nd Test at the Adelaide Oval was a day-night Test where England collapsed with the bat and lost by 120 runs.
Australia sealed a 4-0 series win in Sydney.
England slid to an innings-and-123-run defeat in the final Test to complete their miserable Ashes campaign.#Ashes #AusEng pic.twitter.com/J1GV7lKwAX
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) January 8, 2018
An even bigger defeat came in search of the English team at the WACA where they suffered by an innings and 41 runs. England finally found some relief in Melbourne thanks to a brilliant knock from their skipper Alastair Cook. They made 491 in response to Australia’s 327 as Cook carried the bat for England with an unbeaten 244-run knock. The match did end up in a draw with Aussie captain Steve Smith scoring yet another Boxing Day century.
A clean sweep
The series was set for a conclusion at the Sydney Cricket Ground where England were bundled out for 346. Usman Khawaja’s 171-run knock laid the platform for a big lead for Australia before the Marsh brothers, Shaun (156) and Mitchell (101) smashed hundreds. The duo added 169 runs for the 5th wicket as Australia ended up posting a huge total of 649/7. With a win out of England’s reach, they aimed for a draw, making only 94 runs in the 46 overs they batted on Day 4.
The visitors lost a total of four wickets in that period and were set for yet another defeat. Overnight batsman Joe Root did not resume his innings due to illness but walked in after the fall of 5th wicket. Root batted out 167 balls for his 58 before walking off ‘retired ill’ yet again at Lunch when England were 144/5 in 75 overs. He did not return and as a result, England lost their remaining four wickets in the space of 11.4 overs, losing the series 0-4.
