Australia regained the Ashes with an overwhelming bowling display in the third Test against England at the Adelaide Oval. With this win, Australia moved to a 3-0 lead in the T20 series. Beyond this, they achieved a true caveat of history by closing out the Ashes at the earliest possible juncture. For many reasons, the match was a stunning display of individual talent. In the midst of an Australian bowling attack for the ages, England collapsed spectacularly.
Travis Head was the glaring star, scoring an incredible 170 on his home ground. Aside from securing his spot in the team for good, his innings put the match truly out of England’s reach. Due largely to Head’s incredible showing, Australia piled on a hefty 511 runs. This accomplishment provided them a hefty advantage of 177 runs over their opponents.
It was the Australian bowling unit’s best performance of the series that completely dismantled England’s batting line-up. Recently, England has had a tough time when playing at the Gabba. Their last Test win at this wonderful fortress came way back in 1986. This history certainly loomed large on their prospects as they faced a formidable task against a rampaging Australian team off the back of 3 impressive performances.
England missed a golden opportunity to capitalise on Australia’s poor state at 149-4 in their second innings. Unfortunately, they went about this in entirely the wrong way. They had to show an immense amount of resolve to chase down Australia’s score and give their bowlers a tough enough target to bowl at. But England had an all-time notable collapse. England went from 157 for 6 to being bowled out for a pathetic total of 164 runs after losing three wickets in six balls without scoring a run.
Australia’s bowling attack was unforgiving. Captain Pat Cummins had a crucial hand in this, removing Joe Root for just 19 runs in the second innings. This was Cummins’ 13th time dismissing Root in Test matches. He is the bowler with the most international wickets against the one-time England captain.
Compounding the narrative of England’s missed opportunities was a truly atrocious fielding display. They threw away or failed to convert five gilt edged opportunities over the course of the game. Jamie Smith had a terrible time behind the stumps. He knocked Head three times! Don’t forget that meanwhile, Ben Duckett had cost England a real early chance by dropping Alex Carey before he’d got off the mark.
In addition to Head’s outstanding performance, Alex Carey made a crucial century at his home ground, further bolstering Australia’s position. His knock was crucial not only for keeping Australia in the run chase at 371 but providing a solid enough platform to build on.
England’s batting lineup faced further hurdles as Ben Stokes made a costly mistake that saw him run out by Josh Inglis shortly after entering the crease. This stunner only compounded England’s misfortunes on the day, quickly summing up their inability to keep calm and carry on when the pressure rose.
Usman Khawaja scored a match-winning century. He went on to score 82 runs after being dropped when he was on only five runs off the bowling of Josh Tongue. It was his innings that truly showed the issues with England’s bowlers. They failed to capitalize on early chances, allowing Australia to settle in and form productive partnerships.
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