England survive Melbourne mayhem to claim drought-breaking win

MELBOURNE: England celebrated their first test win in Australia in 15 years at a sunbathed Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday as their batters chased down 175 runs to secure a four-wicket victory within two frenzied days of the fourth Ashes test.

Though the hosts had already locked away the urn with two matches to spare, Ben Stokes’s men gave their travelling army of fans belated cheer in a hitherto one-sided series.

Their nerves were jangling when England were reduced to 165 for six but Harry Brook and Jamie Smith held on, with the winning run brought up with four leg byes off Mitchell Starc.

It was England’s first test victory in Australia since Andrew Strauss’s team thumped the hosts by an innings and 83 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the fifth test of the 2010/11 Ashes.

“To lose the series is obviously very disappointing, but I think it was really important that we showed a lot of character for the rest of the series, and there’s been a lot thrown at this team and the way that we responded throughout these two days has been excellent,” said England batter Joe Root.

Australia lead England by 46 after 20 wickets fall on crazy day at MCG

The victory came despite England being on the back foot early on day two, with paceman Gus Atkinson soon out of service with a hamstring strain after Australia resumed with a 46-run lead and 10 wickets in hand.

But with the help of a sporting pitch and some injudicious Australian batting, the tourists routed the hosts for 132 in 34.3 overs midway through the second session.

It was over to England’s batters to carry the team to victory and they did it in some style.

After a largely dismal series, the top order functioned with three batters making vital contributions.

Zak Crawley (37) and Ben Duckett (34) set the tone, racing to a 51-run partnership at more than seven runs-per-over before Starc shattered Duckett’s stumps.

A ploy to promote tailender Brydon Carse to a slogging number three did not quite come off; he fell for six with a top-edge off Jhye Richardson.

But 22-year-old Jacob Bethell kept the momentum for England in his fifth test, putting on 47 runs for the third wicket before Scott Boland trapped Crawley lbw for 37.

Bethell missed out on a first Ashes fifty, cutting Boland hard to the covers where Usman Khawaja crouched low for a fine catch to dismiss him for 40 off 46 balls.

England needed only 38 runs with six wickets in hand at that stage but Australia’s bowlers made them work for it.

Richardson dismissed Root lbw for 15 and Starc had Stokes caught behind for two when the England skipper swung wildly at a short ball, leaving the tourists 10 runs from safety.

But wicketkeeper Smith (three not out) and Brook (18 not out) held firm.

Australia will wonder how it all got away from them, having reached 61 for two in the morning before it all went sour.

Following a five-wicket haul in the first innings, England seamer Josh Tongue turned the game by having number three Marnus Labuschagne nick off to the slips where Root took a sharp catch just above the grass.

Australia duly lost 4-27 to be 98 for six at lunch.

Steve Smith (24 not out) and Cameron Green (19) battled to a 31-run partnership before Stokes intervened, coaxing Green into a loose shot that served up a chest-high catch to Brook in the slips.

Having been resilient throughout the series, Australia’s tail crumbled, adding 13 runs for the last three wickets.

Following the two-day series-opener in Perth, Cricket Australia will be counting the cost of another lightning-quick test, even if day two’s massive crowd of 92,045 gave the day one record of 94,199 a shake.

Day three at the 100,000-seat MCG would also have a sell-out, leaving the host board missing out on millions in revenue.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)