In an incredible display of play Tuesday morning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), England lost by an innings and 14 runs in just two days and a session in the Boxing Day Test, ending their hopes of winning the Ashes. After only 11 days of play in the 5-match Test series down under, Australia managed to hold onto the Ashes Urn.
It was a nightmare morning for England, but it was the stuff of dreams for Scott Boland, a rookie bowler who took six wickets in his first game at home. Before concluding with a sixth wicket, Boland had amassed five England batsmen in just 19 balls, the third-fastest five-wicket haul in Test cricket history.
In his Test debut, Scott Boland also set a new record for the fewest runs given up, taking five wickets for seven runs, surpassing Australia’s Charles Turner, who took five for fifteen runs against England in 1887. Boland made an incredible start, finishing with match stats of 7/55 and winning the Mullagh Medal on his debut in Melbourne. He was only the second Indigenous men’s Test cricket player for Australia.
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Ben Stokes and skipper Joe Root resumed play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and England started the day at 31/4 with slim chances of surviving and exerting some pressure on Australia. Mitchell Starc crushed any aspirations, though, dismissing Ben Stokes for 11 in the 18th over before Boland started to rampage. Root was out for 28, Jonny Bairstow was leg before wicket for five, and Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood, the tailenders, were out for ducks. The humiliation of England was topped off by all-rounder Cameron Green bowling James Anderson for two.
In front of a loud home crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, England put up the least amount of fight, losing their last five wickets in 30 balls. England’s 68 all out is their ninth-lowest Test score against Australia and their lowest total there since March 1904. After only 12 days of cricket, the outcome means that Australia has kept the Ashes and will be aiming for a 5-0 series victory.