Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes. (Photo Source: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Veteran seamer Stuart Broad bid adieu to professional cricket in style as he fittingly picked up the last two wickets with England defeating Australia by a margin of 49 runs to level the Ashes series 2-2 on the fifth and final day of the Oval Test. After losing the opening two matches, Ben Stokes and his men bounced back in some fashion as they won the third and the fifth game today to deny Australia an Ashes series victory in England since 2001 now.
Speaking in detail about the final Oval Test, skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and the Aussies opted to field first. Youngster Harry Brook was the standout performer for the home side with his knock of 85. Ben Duckett and Chris Woakes contributed with 41 and 36 runs, respectively as England reached a total of 283.
In reply, Steven Smith’s solid record at the venue continued as he amassed 71. Barring Brook, all the English bowlers chipped in with wickets as they restricted the visitors to 295. Zak Crawley, Joe Root, and Jonny Bairstow all then smashed their respective half-centuries as England posted a total of 395 in their second innings, setting a target of 384 for the Aussies.
Openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja racked up 60 and 72, respectively while Smith scored 54 but it wasn’t enough as the Kangaroos fell short of their target. Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali picked up four and three wickets, respectively as Australia got bundled out for 334. With this, this entertaining and exciting Ashes series got drew 2-2 with Cummins and his side managing to retain it.
Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from the 5th Ashes Test between England and Australia:
153 – Stuart Broad completed the milestone of 150 wickets against Australia in Tests. The seamer has picked up the most wickets against the Aussies with Ian Botham in the second position with 148 scalps.
5004 – Usman Khawaja reached the landmark of 5000 Test runs. He became the 21st Australian to achieve the feat.
167 – Broad gets retired after playing the fourth-most Test matches (167). He surpassed Jacques Kallis’s tally of 166 games. Australia’s pair of Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh are tied in the third spot for appearing in 168 Tests. Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson are in the first and second positions for playing 200 and 183 matches, respectively.
83.87 – Steven Smith has racked up 671 runs in nine innings at an average of 83.87 with three centuries and as many fifties in Tests at The Oval in London.
1037 – Khawaja is the only player with over 1000 runs in the game’s longest format in 2023. His teammate Travis Head occupies the second spot with 836 runs.
2001 – Australia has failed to win an Ashes series in England since the year 2001.
189 – Broad is now tied with Curtly Ambrose at the top for picking up the most wickets (189) against Australia in international cricket.
102 – Ben Stokes completed the landmark of 100 catches in Test cricket.
3 – With 102 grabs, Stokes became only the third player after Kallis and Garry Sobers to achieve the treble of 6000-plus runs, 100-plus wickets, and 100-plus catches.
671 – Smith has slammed the most runs (671) by a visiting batter at The Oval. Don Bradman is in the second position with 553 runs.