England vs Australia The Ashes 2023, Fourth Test Stats Review: Australia’s Ashes retention, Jonny Bairstow’s feat and other stats

Jonny Bairstow. (Pic source: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

The rain had the final say at the Old Trafford in Manchester, as the fourth Test between England and Australia ended in a draw. Pat Cummins’ led Australia have retained the Ashes with the scoreline of 2-1, as the weather played a spoilsport to help Australia avoid a defeat.

Speaking about the fourth Test, England opted to field first. Stuart Broad drew the first blood by trapping Usman Khawaja for 3 at the end of the fifth over, while Chris Woakes partnered him to get David Warner to edge one to the wicketkeeper for a 38 ball 32. Marnus Labuschagne (51) and Mitchell Marsh (51) got off to their respective half-centuries while handy contributions from Steven Smith (41) and Travis Head (48) along with an unbeaten 36 from Mitchell Starc helped Australia post 317 in the first innings.

For England, Chris Woakes was the pick of bowlers as he rattled the Australian batting line-up with a spell of 5/62, while Stuart Broad accounted for two wickets and all other bowlers picking one wicket each.

Trailing by 317, England continued their Bazball approach, they lost Ben Duckett very soon as Mitchell Starc drew the first blood for Australia. Zak Crawley took the Aussie bowlers to the cleaners smacking them out of the ground fearlessly, Crawley scored 189 off 182 balls that included 24 boundaries. Moeen Ali (54), Joe Root (84), Harry Brook (61) and Ben Stokes (51) all reached to their respective half-centuries to help England take the lead.

The second half of England’s innings was all about Jonny Bairstow, who went berserk against the likes of Aussie quicks. Bairstow remained unbeaten on 99 off 82 balls to help England with a monumental total of 592. Bairstow’s innings included 14 boundaries. Notably, six out of the top seven batters scored more than 50 runs as they gained a massive lead of 275 runs over Australia.

Trailing by 275 in the second innings, both the openers got off to a start but could not get going as Mark Wood dismissed Khawaja for 18, while Chris Woakes cleaned up David Warner for 28. Steven Smith and Travis Head did not live up to the expectations, as Wood scalped them for 17 and one runs, respectively.

Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh added a century partnership, Labuschagne registered his 11th Test century and second century away from home before Joe Root nicked him for 111, while Marsh remained unbeaten on 31. Rain played a spoilsport in the last two days to end England’s hope of clinching the series dream, as the last two days accounted for only one session, eventually, the game ending in a draw. Australia ended the innings with 214/5.

Meanwhile, let us look at the stats and numbers from the fourth Ashes Test between England and Australia

600 -Stuart Broad completed 600 Test wickets, becoming the second England bowler and second pacer to achieve this feat

1 -Jonny Bairstow became the first and only player to remain not out and get dismissed on 99 in the same venue. He remained not out on 99 in this game while got dismissed for 99 in 2017.

189 -Zak Crawley scored 189 in this game, this is the highest score by an England opener in the World Test Championship.

2 -Zak Crawley also registered the second-highest score of 189 as an opener at Manchester in The Ashes. The highest score was registered by Bob Simpson (311) in 1964.

2 -Jonny Bairstow became the second player to remain unbeaten in 99 in Ashes while Steve Waugh was the other player to do so, he did it at Perth in 1995.

5 -This is the fifth instance of six out of the top seven players scoring more than 50 for England in Ashes.

Instances of top six out of seven players scoring 50 or more in Ashes

6 (ENG) – The Oval in 1893

6 (AUS)- Sydney in 1920

6  (AUS)- The Oval in 1930

6 (AUS)- The Oval in 2001

6 (ENG) – Manchester in 2023

5.49 – England completed the innings with a run-rate of 5.49, the highest run-rate in Ashes while scoring 500 or more runs in an innings. 4.70 was the previous record set by Australia at Perth in 2006

111 -Marnus Labuschagne registered his highest overseas score of 111, surpassing his previous best of 104 against Sri Lanka in 2022.

100 -Joe Root completed his 100th fifty in international cricket, becoming the first England player to achieve this feat.

 5/62 -Chris Woakes registered his best figures of 5/62 in Ashes. His previous best was 4/36 at Adelaide in 2017.

4 -Australia have now remained unbeaten for the fourth consecutive series in Ashes.