After escaping a fourth Test that was dominated by England with a shattered draw, Australia has successfully defended the Ashes. They will depart Manchester on Monday with a 2-1 lead. They will have the chance to win England’s first series since 2001 at The Oval the following week.
Ashes 4th Test Score
Australia 317 (Labuschagne 51, Marsh 51, Woakes 5-62) and 214 for 5 (Labuschagne 111)
England 592 (Crawley 189, Bairstow 99*, Root 84, Brook 61, Moeen 54, Stokes 51, Hazlewood 5-126)
Match Result: Draw
Match Overview
Australia was down by 61 runs in their second innings with five wickets left going into the fifth day at Emirates Old Trafford. Only after 30 overs of action were available between showers on Saturday. However, due to the continued rain, Sunday’s play was called off without a ball being bowled. The draw was finally announced at 5.24 p.m.
The fifth day’s start at Emirates Old Trafford was delayed by overnight heavy rain. The scheduled inspections were subsequently postponed due to continuous showers that swept the pitch. During a brief lunch break, a start time of 1 pm was declared; however, the rain resumed shortly after and continued for the remainder of the afternoon.
The English players kicked a ball about on the pitch to indicate that they were ready to play, but they eventually went back to the changing rooms after becoming soaked. Puddles were accumulating on the outfield and there was a significant amount of standing water on the covers as the rain only got stronger.
The majority of the sold-out crowd had left by the time the umpires made the decision to end play for the day. It left the Party Stand completely empty. Before alerting his teammates so they could celebrate keeping the urn, Pat Cummins clasped hands with Joel Wilson and Nitin Menon.
Rain Interrupts Ashes
The weather forecast was expected to force England to “push the game on even more” than usual. According to Ben Stokes, there was not much more they could have done. In their lone innings, they averaged 5.49 runs per over and claimed 15 wickets in 161.2 fielding overs.
The Test match was only given 269 overs because of the rain and both sides’ slow over rates. There was not enough time for either team to win. After 12 victories and four losses in their previous 17 games, since Stokes was named captain last year, England finally managed to draw one.
Despite being outmatched for the last two Tests, the outcome implies that Australia cannot lose the series. They had a chance to win the game completely when they left Manchester with a 2-1 lead. But they lost at The Oval four years prior; they will be eager to atone for that loss next week.
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