Ruthless Australia regain the Ashes

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The reduction of overs gave England a sliver of chance to pull off the great escape but their renewed hope were quickly dashed by Josh Hazlewood

Once again on home terrain, Australia is covered in Ashes glory after overwhelmingly dismantling a battered England. Australia regained the urn in comprehensive fashion with a decisive innings-and-41-run victory over the battered tourists in a controversial finale to Ashes cricket at the WACA on Monday (December 18).

Australia needed just 34.3 overs to take the six wickets needed to claim the third Test on the final day and seal an unassailable 3-0 series lead although the triumph was almost overshadowed by a bizarre fiasco after the start of day five was delayed by three hours due to a wet pitch. There was a moment where the possibility of the match being abandoned loomed large, but the umpires deemed the pitch safe, much to Australia’s relief.

Rain seeped through the covers and onto the pitch after heavy rain lashed Perth overnight. Intermittent rain also fell as the first session was wiped out and 28 overs were lost. The reduction of overs gave England a sliver of chance to pull off the great escape but their renewed hope were quickly dashed by Josh Hazlewood, who probed away on the wearing and wet pitch to star with 5 for 48. England were bowled out for 218 just before tea.

England started precariously placed at 132 for 4 and hit disaster almost instantly. In the first delivery from the Prindiville Stand end, Hazlewood bowled Jonny Bairstow with a ball that crept low off the suspect wet patch to severely dent England’s faint hopes of salvaging the match and keeping alive the series. Moments later, struggling all-rounder Moeen Ali edged to Steve Smith at second slip but was adjudged not out with the ball appearing to hit the turf first. Aleem Dar, the third umpire, withheld the decision.

Targeting the crack and wet patch at the Lillee-Marsh end, the metronomic Hazlewood was spitting venom to be a major handful. One firecracker of a delivery reared off the crack as if hitting a trampoline and flew sideways past diving wicketkeeper Tim Paine.

England’s hopes rested on first innings centurion Dawid Malan and he copped a testing short-ball barrage from Pat Cummins, who was tasked with being Australia’s enforcer. He calmly thwarted the fireworks and found willing support from Moeen, who was fighting to discover some form after a torrid series.

Moeen shelved the shots but bogeyman Nathan Lyon continued his stranglehold by trapping the left-hander for 11 as Australia could sense an Ashes triumph was imminent. It was the fifth time in the series Mooen has been dismissed by Australia’s venerable offspinner.

In a silver lining for England, Malan (54) continued his breakout performance with a gritty stonewalling half-century in a desperate effort to defy Australia. The emerging No.5 mixed trademark elegant shots with a stout defence but fell gloving a short-pitched Hazelwood delivery down the leg-side to effectively end England’s resistance.

Carrying a bruised heel, Australian spearhead Mitchell Starc gamely battled on but couldn’t reproduce his stunning efforts from day four when he produced the ball of the series to dismiss No.3 James Vince. The explosive left-hander bowled within himself as he dipped to relatively pedestrian mid-130kmh speeds.

It was a controversial ending to the final ever Ashes Test at the WACA with unseasonal inclement conditions blighting the backend of the match. Ground staff worked furiously with large blowers to ensure the wicket returned to a playable state. There were regular meetings between both captains and umpires but eventually the officials deemed the pitch safe and play started three hours after schedule.

England’s WACA nightmare ended in familiar disappointment and the defeat was their eighth straight Test loss at the ground. It was particularly bitter after they appeared to be building an impregnable position at 368 for 4 early on day two before things went awry.

Not even Perth’s bizarre fickle weather could save England, who have been clearly outpointed over the course of the series and face a third whitewash Down Under in just over a decade. The result ensures the hallowed Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests – the showpieces of the Australian cricket calendar – will be dead rubbers.

Having completed an emphatic Ashes redemption, Australia will be celebrating long and hard knowing they decisively regained cricket’s most treasured prize.