England ended their December with hope as they won the Boxing Day test in Australia. It was England’s first victory in a test on Australian soil in 14 years and also the first in this series. History changed time by time, and this Boxing Day Test at MCG will add to the pages as one of the bizarre test events of the Ashes. It only took 1.5 days to end the match, and it is alarming as the glory both teams carry and the performances they provided in a bilateral series like the Ashes should be on the gunwale.
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As of now, when only a few teams are taking the longest and hardest format seriously, performances like this are questionable and should be reviewed.
20 wickets fall in one day
After 1901/02, 1931/32 and 1894/95, this is the third time that 20 wickets have fallen in a day in Australia. Batting first Australia only survived for 45. 2 overs and made 152 runs, Michael Neser who is playing his fourth test and the first day test in his career made 35 runs and Khawaja scored 29 runs to help the Kangaroos to reach a respectable total, Josh Tongue took 5 wickets to destroy the batting line up and Brydon Carse and Stokes took 1 wicket each while Gus Atkinson clinched 2 wickets.
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Though this did not help England, as Australia took the bones out of England, once again forcing them to stop at just 110 runs. Harry Brook continued the fight with 41 runs, and Gus Atkinson made 28 runs.
A bizarre Boxing Day at MCG
Australia started their second innings with Travis Head and Scott Boland as night watchmen. Boland only survived for 17 balls while Travis Head pushed the team with a tight 46 runs. Captain Smith was also able to stay more than others in the crease and scored 24 runs not out. For Australia, three players made a duck, and they got all out in just 132 runs, which was lower than their first innings and gave England a target of 175 runs.
English opener Crawley and Duckett gave a good start by forming a partnership of 51 runs, and after that, Bethell showed his class with an extraordinary 40 runs. Brook and Root helped England get past the line and ended the test match in just 1.5 days, leaving the highly anticipated fight into a flat downgrade contest.
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A test is ending within two days in a SENA country, and the four games of a series like Ashes, which continued a total of 13 days between the so-called flag bearers of test cricket, are something to raise questions about as much as the questions that came to the subcontinental games.
