Recent Match Report – England vs Australia 3rd Test 2021/22

By Phillip L. Varela Last updated Dec 28, 2021

Reporting

England blasted in just over an hour on third morning for third test rout

Australia 267 (Harris 76, Anderson 4-33) beat England 185 (Root 50, Cummins 3-36, Lyon 3-36) and 68 (Boland 6-7, Starc 3-29) by one set and 14 points

Scott Boland’s six-wicket transport on his testing debut allowed Australia to wrap up the Ashes 3-0, ahead of day three lunch at MCG.

The Australian Rapids continued their demolition work on England, Boland adding to his two wickets of three balls in a devastating final hour on day two, with four more on the third morning to seal an innings victory as the hosts kept the urn.

Boland took six wickets in 21 bullets in total while Mitchell Starc, who was instrumental in reducing England to 31 for 4 in a cauldron atmosphere on day two, added Ben Stokes wicket in the First 25 minutes of the round, to finish with 3 for 29.

Pat Cummins, whose pressure helped keep England’s beleaguered hitters in Australia’s hands, went unpaid in England’s second innings, helping them limit them to a total of 185 in the first round when he and Nathan Lyon claimed three wickets each.

But the day – however short – belonged to Boland, who was selected as a MCG specialist after his performances for Victoria and who became the fourth native Australian to play Test cricket. After taking 1 for 48 in England’s opening innings, he was simply unplayable for a team with his confidence battered and his stick in disarray. At one historic point, Boland won the Mullagh Medal as Player of the Match, named Johnny Mullagh, who toured England with the Australian Aboriginal team in 1868.

With players on both sides allowed to resume after returning negative tests following a Covid alert the morning before, England’s task has always seemed insurmountable, even with Stokes and Joe Root still present. low, their 68 all-round the lowest ash total in Australia since 1936 and the lowest England total in Australia since 1904.

Starc rocked Stokes’ center stump with a faster, fuller ball that came through the gate as the batter advanced on defense to take out the man who is still remembered for his exploits at Headingley in 2019 but is in a spot much different now after taking a long break from the game.

Boland went into the attack and hit with his fifth ball of the day, trapping Jonny Bairstow lbw for 5. Bairstow, dropped by Cameron Green to the ravine on the first ball of the plus, revised lbw’s decision, but she was confirmed on appeal of the referee the impact and hit the stumps.

Root must have wanted to disappear when a childbirth from Cummins hit him in the groin – the third time Root has suffered such an injury in just over a week. He shook him faster than Starc’s effort in Adelaide, which came following a serious hit in the net that sent him to hospital for scans earlier today.

Root trailed long enough to be England’s top scorer – again – with just 28 this time around, but he fell behind the wheel at Boland and edged out David Warner on the slip. After scoring 1,708 points in 2021, Root finished the calendar year two points behind second-placed Viv Richards and 80 points off Mohammad Yousuf’s record.

England presented another less coveted record, however, when Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson left in three deliveries from Boland without scoring, bringing their team’s duck count to 54 this year and tying their worst performance in that department from 1998. Wood grabbed a hold back to Boland to give him his five-for, then Robinson closed on the outside of the stump, stabbing a hold at Marnus Labuschagne on the third slip.

It was Green who beat last player James Anderson for 2 to seal the result on a day Australia – and Boland – will long remember. England, meanwhile, face a serious period of analysis if they are to prevent a 5-0 sweep.

Valkerie Baynes is Managing Editor at ESPNcricinfo

Recent Match Report – England vs Australia 3rd Test 2021/22

Related posts: