HOBART, Jan 16: Showing their sheer dominance, fast bowlers helped Australia thrash England by 146 runs in the fifth and final Test on Day 3, to clinch the 2021/22 Ashes series 4-0 and to retain the urn, here on Sunday.
Despite Mark Wood's lion-hearted efforts to keep his side in the contest with his career-best 6 for 39 to bowl Australia out in their second innings for 155 and set England a realistic chase of 271, visitors folded from 0-68 a ball prior to tea to 124 all out just 22.4 overs later.
It was a 17-wicket day -- just the third of such carnage in Tests played in Australia over the past 25 years, and the second since yesterday -- saw Australia complete such a clinical win that off-spinner Nathan Lyon wasn't required to bowl a ball during the match.
The Australia fast bowlers showed their mastery with wickets shared between skipper Pat Cummins (3-42), Scott Boland (3-18), Cameron Green (3-21) and Mitchell Starc (1-30).
Chasing a challenging target of 271 to win, Rory Burns and Zak Crawley logged England's highest opening partnership of the tour in a quick-fire fashion that belied their previous struggles in the series. However, Burns (26) chopped on to Cameron Green at the stroke of tea and his partner Crawley was 32 not out when tea was called.
Earlier, resuming at 37/3, Wood into fourth over of the day's play hit the hard length and got a delivery to climb steeply towards Scott Boland's throat, something the nightwatchman could only glove to the 'keeper. Two overs later, he dismissed first-innings centurion Travis Head, who became the latest in a list of batsmen strangled down the legside in this game.
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The short-ball bowling got the biggest reward when Smith got out on the pull at fine-leg. Australia at that stage were reduced to 63/6 with England entertaining the possibility of chasing a target under or close to 200.
However, there was resistance from Aussie batters as Alex Carey and Cameron Green got together to add some important runs with some luck along the way. Carey played on to a Chris Woakes delivery while on 19 only for the third umpires to reveal that the bowler had marginally overstepped. Carey was also adjudged LBW, a decision that he overturned with a review. The 49-run partnership was eventually ended when Broad had Green ruled out LBW with a review.
Wood's 6-37 was the best Test innings return by a visiting bowler in Australia since Jasprit Bumrah's 6-33 for India at the MCG last summer, and the best by an England bowler in an away Ashes contest since Matthew Hoggard's 7-109 in his team's famous lost cause at Adelaide in 2006.
Brief scores: Australia 303 & 155 (Carey 49; Wood 6-37) beat England 188 & 124 (Crawley 36; Boland 3-18, Cummins 3-42, Green 3-21).
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