News India Live, Digital Desk: The fourth Ashes Test match played in Melbourne was very unexpected, where England registered a spectacular victory by defeating Australia by four wickets in just two days. This victory is also special for England because they have broken the losing streak of 18 matches on Australian soil after almost 15 years. Drama of the first day: 20 wickets fell in a hurry. The match progressed so fast that a total of 30 wickets fell in just one and a half days. 20 wickets had fallen on the first day itself, making it clear that the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch was completely in favor of the bowlers. Australia was all out after scoring only 152 runs in its first innings, in response to which England was also all out for just 110 runs. Australia had scored 4/0 by the end of the first day’s play, and entered the field on the second day with a slight lead of 42 runs. Thrill of the second day: Australian innings shattered, England’s strong chase. As soon as the second day’s play started, England’s bowlers tightened their grip on the Australian batsmen. Bryden Carse and Ben Stokes bowled brilliantly and did not allow the Australian players to reach a big score. Travis Head struggled alone for some time and scored the highest score of 46 runs for Australia in the second innings. However, Marnus Labuschagne was out early after scoring only 8, Usman Khawaja 0 and Alex Carey scored 4 runs, due to which the entire Australian team disintegrated. For England, Brydon Carse took 4 wickets (4-34) for 34 runs, while captain Ben Stokes also took 3 important wickets (3-24) for 24 runs. After lunch, Australia was reduced to just 132 runs, after which England got a target of 175 runs to win. While chasing 175 runs, England’s openers made a fast start. Zak Crawley scored 37 runs and Ben Duckett scored 34 runs and made a good partnership of 51 runs. Jacob Bethel played an important inning of 40 runs. However, Joe Root (15 runs) and captain Ben Stokes (2 runs) were out early, which made the match a bit exciting. In the end, Harry Brook (18 runs) and Jamie Smith (3 runs) combined to take England to 178/6 and register a spectacular win. England fast bowler Josh Tong was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ for his brilliant bowling. The match ended in just two days, which is a rare occurrence in Test cricket. This victory of England has filled new confidence in the team after losing their first three Tests.
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