Adelaide [Australia], December 21 (ANI): Following his side’s Ashes series win over England, Australian skipper Pat Cummins expressed doubts over his featuring in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne from December 26 onwards and offered a fitness update on spinner Nathan Lyon, who sustained a hamstring injury during the final day of the third Test at Adelaide on Sunday.
Cummins’ comeback was a grand one, as not only did he take six crucial wickets, including the massive scalp of Joe Root on both innings, he also brought in his next-level tactical brilliance to deny a fighting England a successful run-chase of 435 runs to win the Ashes series 3-0 and retain the urn. He also surpassed legendary Mitchell Johnson to become the sixth-highest wicket-taker for Aussies in Tests. He returned to the side after missing the first two Tests, with Steve Smith stepping up as captain.
“First of all, I felt great,” Cummins told after the win.
“Just like a normal Test match. Bowling mid-30s overs, if anything, because I came into this Test match quite fresh, I feel my legs are still decent. Sometimes you are hanging on to some residual soreness from previous games. So, feeling really good.”
“As for the rest of the series, we will see. We had a pretty aggressive build-up knowing that there is an Ashes there to be won, and we thought that was worth it (to take risks by playing). Now that the series has been won, there might be a sense of job’s done and let us kind of reassess the risk.”
“We will work it out over the next couple of days. I doubt I will be playing Melbourne, and then we will have a chat about Sydney. Certainly before the series, it was while the series is alive, lets take on the risk and have a crack at it,” he concluded his point.
He expressed surprise at England’s more defensive, fighting approach during this Test match, rather than going hammer and tongs right from ball one.
“They seemed to have changed their style quite a bit game to game. I think that can happen in overseas conditions, you are always trying to fight for a method that works. Day two, I thought I was surprised. It was 40-odd degrees. It was hot, a very flat wicket, and they shut up shop for half the day – which I was pretty happy with. So who knows. I am sure they will talk about it and come at us with different plans for Melbourne and Sydney. I’m glad that we’ve been able to stick to our guns and play the way that we play best, and it has worked,” he added.
Speaking on the hamstring injury of spinner Lyon, Cummins said that it does not look great seeing the veteran on crutches a week before the Test match at MCG, a Boxing Day fixture.
“Does not look great and bode well ahead of the next Test (Lyon in crutches). He is close to irreplaceable, takes breakthroughs and controls the game well. But we do have players who have done well in domestic cricket and have had a taste of international cricket too. This was the benefit of the Sri Lanka and West Indies tour, where we took one more spinner, and it would not be overwhelming for them if they get to play (in this Ashes).
Speaking about his side’s Ashes series win, Cummins said, Winning 3-0 is hugely satisfying for many reasons. But particularly, I think a lot of the chat before the series is how evenly poised it is going to be. And you know, to win it in straight sets, it does not get much better than that.”
After Australia won the toss, they opted to bat first. But the relentless pace of Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse put them in a soup at 94/4. It was Usman Khawaja’s veteran instincts and signature cuts and sweeps during his 126-ball 82, consisting of 10 fours, which slowly brought back the momentum to the Aussies, with Alex Carey also firing at the other end. Carey brought up his maiden Ashes ton, scoring 106 in 143 balls, with eight fours and a six. A half-century run stand between Mitchell Starc (54 in 75 balls, with eight fours) and Scott Boland (14*) troubled England just when they wanted to bundle Aussies for below 300. Aussies scored 371 in 91.2 overs.
Archer (5/53) delivered a brilliant fifer for England, with Josh Tongue and Will Jacks getting a couple each.
Later, Nathan Lyon (2/70) and skipper Pat Cummins (3/70) kept England away from forming big partnerships, reducing them to 168/8 by getting wickets just when England looked to find an escape. However, a century stand between skipper Ben Stokes (83 in 198 balls, with eight fours) and a resolute Archer (51 in 105 balls, with five fours and a six) powered England to 286, with their trail at 85 runs. Boland played a significant role in wiping out the tail-end with three wickets.
In their second innings, England had the upper hand over Australia at one point, with Australia at 149/4. However, hometown heroes Travis Head (170 in 219 balls, with 16 fours and two sixes) and Carey (72 in 128 balls, with six fours) revelled amid loud cheers from the crowd, outbattling England one delivery at a time. While England was better with the ball on day four and wiped them out for 349 runs, a record run-chase of 435 runs awaited England.
Tongue (4/80) and Carse (3/80) were amongst the top bowlers for England.
England’s run chase was one featuring promise and brain fades in equal measure. After a first-ball boundary, Ben Duckett (4) lost his wicket while Ollie Pope (17) continued to find slip fielders. With England reduced to 31/2, Joe Root (39 in 63 balls, with five fours) and Harry Brook put on a 78-run stand, giving their team some normalcy. Root continued to be a “nicking machine”, falling to Cummins for the second time in the match and for the 13th time overall in Tests.
Crawley, who looked uncharacteristically patient, carried England’s hopes forward with Brook until a brain-fade reverse sweep from Brook ended his stay at 56 balls and triggered a mini-collapse from 177/3 to 194/6. Jamie Smith (60 in 83 balls, with seven fours) and Will Jacks put on a 91-run stand, making England fans believe and dare to dream until the adrenaline of counter-attacking Starc got the best of Jamie. Jacks (47 in 137 balls, with three fours) put on a half-century stand with Carse (39* in 64 balls, with four boundaries and a six) to keep England’s heart beating, but after Jacks was gone, there was no coming back as Australia bundled out England for 352 runs.
Cummins (3/48), Starc (3/62) and Lyon (3/77) shone with the ball, denying England another shot at an Ashes series win in Australia since 2010/11 and keeping them winless in Aussie land since that glorious moment. Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead, and Carey was given the ‘Player of the Match’ honours for his knocks of 106 and 72. (ANI)
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