Australia squeaked home to a five-wicket victory over England in the fifth Ashes Test after a nervy final day in Sydney, the hosts’ dominance over the series reflected in securing a 4-1 scoreline.Set 160 to win on the final day at the SCG after England added 40 to their overnight score for the loss of their final two wickets, Australia stumbled their way to 121-5 before Alex Carey (16no) and Cameron Green (22no) ticked off the remaining 39 runs required to avoid an embarrassing final defeat.
Score summary – Australia vs England, fifth Ashes Test, Sydney Cricket Ground
England 384 all out in 97.3 overs in first innings (elected to bat): Joe Root (160), Harry Brook (84), Jamie Smith (46); Michael Neser (4-60), Scott Boland (2-85), Mitchell Starc (2-93), Marnus Labuschagne (1-14)
Australia 567 all out in 133.5 overs in first innings: Travis Head (163 off 166 balls), Steve Smith (138), Beau Webster (71no); Josh Tongue (3-97), Brydon Carse (3-108), Ben Stokes (2-95)
England 342 all out in 88.2 overs in second innings: Jacob Bethell (154), Ben Duckett (42), Harry Brook (42); Beau Webster (3-64), Mitchell Starc (3-72), Scott Boland (2-46)
Australia 161-5 in 31.2 overs in second innings: Marnus Labuschagne (37), Jake Weatherald (34); Josh Tongue (3-42), Will Jacks (1-42)
Josh Tongue (3-42) was incisive with the ball again for England, taking his wicket tally to 18 over the final three Tests, and making his omission for the first two even more glaring.
He should have added Marnus Labuschagne to his haul, only for Jacob Bethell to make his first error in the Test when putting down a sharp chance at gully when Labuschagne, who was eventually run out for 37, was on 20.England might also wonder what might have been had Jake Weatherald been dismissed for 16 instead of 34 as the series was plagued by yet more Snicko controversy.
The third Ashes Test in Adelaide was dominated by doubts over the reliability of the Snickometer technology used to detect edges off the bat, and the issue reared its head again when replays appeared to show a faint nick behind by Weatherald off Brydon Carse, only for the third umpire to fail to give the decision.
Retiring after the Test, Usman Khawaja was dismissed for six in his final innings – bowled off an inside edge by Tongue – as part of Australia’s middle-order wobble, before Carey and Green saw the hosts over the line.
The result…
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2026-01-08 01:05:00
