Australia completed a 4-0 thrashing of England with an innings and 123 runs in hand at the SCG. Let’s have a look back at the five pivotal moments that shaped this summers Ashes battle.
1. Nathan Lyon swoops at the Gabba
With England cruising along at 2/145 on a more sluggish than normal Gabba wicket, Nathan Lyon brilliantly swooped on a ball and ran out James Vince for an impressive 83. Not only would it stop Vince that innings, but it would almost stop him for the rest of the series. Vince posted only one further score above 50 in the remaining Tests. It was a brilliant piece of fielding.
2. Steve Smith’s Brisbane batting
Australia’s middle and lower order batted well around Steve Smith, whose epic 141 not out from 326 balls set the tone for the summer. It was the start of him piling on the runs for the home team and, importantly, rescuing them from being 4/76 and 7/209 to give Australia an important first innings lead. Batting fourth did not matter as Australia won by ten wickets largely thanks to the skipper.
(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
3. England bowl first in Adelaide
With talk of teams in recent Adelaide Tests bowling first and winning, Joe Root won the toss in Adelaide and sent Australia in. However, England would take only four first-day wickets. Shaun Marsh made a century as Australia declared on day two at 8/442. Despite a hiccup with the batting after not enforcing the follow on Australia still ran out fairly comfortable winners on day five
4. Peter Handscomb’s Perth catch
After Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow added 237 runs for the fifth wicket, it was a great catch from Peter Handscomb, who had been dropped for the Test, that would turn the match. England would go on to lose 6/35 as Handscomb’s horizontal catch would trigger a familiar collapse for the tourists. Australia’s batting would then do the rest to seal an emphatic win in Perth.
5. Ben Stokes’s night out
Preceding all of the above was the infamous night out in Bristol which derailed the tourists’ tour so severely they were never able to get back on track. Whether Ben Stokes would have been enough to have made England a force this summer we will never know, but you can bet he would have contributed more than Moeen Ali, who had his worst ever series as a Test cricketer.
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