The Boxing Day Test at the MCG came to an early end after England’s abysmal 2nd innings batting performance as they were bundled out for just 68, resulting in an innings and 14 runs defeat. The crowd were in for a treat on the 3rd day of the Test, as the Australian pacers ran through the English line-up in just 28 overs.
Aussies Retain the Urn
With a drawn series in the 2019 English home Ashes, Australians had retained the prestigious Urn, the trophy given to the winners of an Ashes series. As England has failed to win the series, the trophy remains with the Kangaroos.
Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser were both ruled out of the Australian line-up due to muscle soreness and replaced with Pat Cummins and Scott Boland– who made his debut.
England made as many as 4 changes from the previous Test. Rory Burns, Ollie Pope, Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad were replaced with Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood and Jack Leach.
Pat Cummins, returning to the team, won the toss and decided to bowl on one of the greenest tops MCG had seen recently. The Aussie skipper sent the English top 3 to the pavilion, and Joe Root, as usual, was the only batter who looked confident facing the Australian bowling attack. Root’s 50 was not enough to put on a good score on the board as the English side were all out for a paltry 185.
Marcus Harris(76) repaid the faith shown in him by the team by scoring an essential half-century on his home ground. James Anderson bowled brilliantly to get important breakthroughs and secured a 4-wicket haul. Lower-order contributions from Head, Cummins and Starc pushed Australia’s total to 267 with a lead of 82 runs.
With an hour’s play remaining on the 2nd day, England came out to bat for the second time in the match. Starc got rid of Zak Crawley and Dawid Malan in two consecutive deliveries in the fifth over, and debutant Scott Boland picked up Haseeb Hameed and nightwatchman Jack Leach in a span of 3 balls. The English were 31-4 after Stumps on day 2.
No batsmen offered any kind of resistance on the 3rd day as a sensational bowling display from Boland skittled out the rest of the side inside an hour’s play for a meagre 68.
Read More: Kidambi Srikanth Settles for a Silver in the BWF World Championships
Man of the Match: Scott Boland
The 32-year-old pacer from Victoria was adjudged the man of the match for his exceptional figures of 4-1-7-6 in the 2nd innings. Making a debut in his home ground, Boland scalped 7 wickets in the match and was a key ingredient in the Aussie’s victory.
Boland also became the second male Aboriginal player to don the Baggy green after Jason Gillespie. He also mentioned the impact left on the younger generation of his community after his heroic performance at the MCG.
“I can see how big Aboriginals are in the AFL (Australian Football League) and NRL (National Rugby League). So hopefully this can be a moment and together with the Big Bash and D’Arcy Short, Ash Gardner and Dan Christian, hopefully that could be sort of like a springboard for young Aboriginals to get involved in the game of cricket.” – ESPNcricinfo
With still 2 games left in the series, England has to come up with a miracle to stop a 5-0 whitewash. On the other hand, Australia enjoyed a merry Christmas and will look forward to continuing its form in Sydney.
Read More : IND Vs SA: KL Rahul hits impressive Ton on Boxing Day
