England vs Australia, 4th Test at Manchester, Sep 04 2019, ICC World Test Championship

RESULT
4th Test, Manchester, September 04 - 08, 2019, ICC World Test Championship
497/8d & 186/6d
(T:383) 301 & 197

Australia won by 185 runs

Player Of The Match
211 & 82
steven-smith
Match centre 
Scores: M Venkat Raghav | Comms: @saurabh_42
Scorecard summary
Australia 497/8(126 overs)
1st INNINGS
211 (319)
3/97 (25)
England 301/10(107 overs)
1st INNINGS
81 (185)
4/57 (25)
71 (168)
3/60 (24)
Australia 186/6(42.5 overs)
2nd INNINGS
82 (92)
3/45 (14)
34 (76)
2/54 (14)
England 197/10(91.3 overs)
2nd INNINGS
53 (123)
4/43 (24)
34 (111)
2/51 (29)

6.16pm Whew, what a game it was. Steven Smith was a batting colossus. England weren't quite up to it in the first innings. They began bowling in the second innings with fire and hostility, but there was Smith again. When it was time to bat, England lost two in two to Cummins to close out Day 4, but still put up a brave resistance on the final day. No batsman could be said to have thrown his wicket away. But the odds were always against them. A fifth day pitch and a high quality attack, it was a minor miracle they dragged it into the last hour. But eventually, the Australian bowlers - Cummins and Hazlewood in particular - were too good. Australia are 2-1 up with one to play. England can't win back the Ashes, but they can draw the series and there are World Test Championship points on the line too. Handing it back to Andrew McGlashan for the presentation now. Before I do that, Steven Smith is king, god, genius, everything. What a player.

Thanks Saurabh. Australia fully deserve this victory and retaining the Ashes. They have been the better team. Tim Paine, who sounds very emotional, has spoken to Channel Nine: "Happiness, relief, very emotional, a lot of people have put in hard work for this to happen. We'd like to finish off with a series win. We'll enjoy tonight, but focus on next week. It's been a long, long time. We know how difficult it is to win over here. We are the lucky ones who have been here. Every player has some story or sacrifice which is what makes moments like this so great. It doesn't happen, retaining the Ashes in England, very often but we'd like to win next week."

Labuschagne "Unbelievable, tough to put into words what it means to retain the Ashes. Shows how hard Ashes cricket is. We felt like it might happen quickly. It's amazing how things have worked out so far. Worked on coming wider on the run-up to give me a better angle. Felt a bit nervous, just had to trust myself. It worked out perfectly. Our big boys bowled fabulously all day."

Nagraj Todur: "Credit to Aussie captain Tim Paine also!! He rotated his bowlers intelligently and made good changes in batting lineup except Warner!! He was spot on to win this match and not showed too much emotions" Yep, he had a very good day.

Tom: "Cummins admitted there's not a lot left in the tank. I think everyone in Australia is relieved but won't be happy with a drawn series given how dominant we've been. Good point about the Test Championship points too, nothing is a dead rubber and certainly not the Oval"

Gautham: "Let's spare a moment for Justin Langer!!The amount of meticulous planning that's gone into this series, the way they've managed their quicks and execution has been top draw! For turning Australian cricket around within one year has been a Herculean effort!!"

Pete: "All credit to England for turning this into an exciting competition, but when we break it down, they only managed to score in total one more run than Australia's first innings score. We can't take away the magnificent individual efforts of Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood, Marnus Laboschange and the valiant efforts of the English team in fighting to save the test. Who said test cricket is dead?"

I'll stay with you for the presentations shortly...

Joe Root "Thought we showed great character today, couldn't be more proud of the effort . As last week we always believed, we fight right to the end. We tried our hardest. We had some fantastic support, it's bitterly disappointing. Got to make sure we turn up for what's still quite a big game at The Oval. You can always sit back and think what you could have done differently. But, today, you learnt a lot about your team. We've seen some wonderful Test cricket and the same will be at The Oval - we want to level the series and there's the Test Championship. It's tough to take, losing the Ashes. The teams have put all batters under pressure - bar Steve Smith - it's been challenging. Been one of those summers, have to find way of scoring runs."

Tim Paine "I'm pretty pumped. This team has been through a lot in the last 12-18 months. The character we've shown shows a lot about the quality of the people. It's been an unbelievable series, I've not had too much sleep. It's been intense. That's what you expect and prepare for. Our bowlers kept sticking at it and we said we'd get our rewards late. We tried to stay calm, not always easy when it means so much to everyone. Thought we handled it pretty well, and the whole week coming out of Headingley. The boys got what they deserved. A bit of guess work with Marnus and he works hard on his legspin, he wants the ball in his hand. [Smith] is the best player I've ever seen, yesterday to push the game forward put England under pressure. He's got a lot of courage to take teams on. It's a funny game, even half an hour ago I was thinking I should have taken that [bat] job. Really humbled to come here and do something really special. But we came here to win them, not just to retain them. We'd love to be 3-1 up when we hold the urn aloft."

Man of the Match is Steve Smith "I didn't enjoy watching last week, but what a feeling today. Been here in '13 and '15 and we weren't able to get it done. Special feeling and really proud to be part of this group of boys. Winning key moments, a build-up of pressure, I'm not really sure [what made the difference]. Incredibly pleasing to get rewards for the hard work. It's been a good series, really enjoyed by time in the middle. A year off where I could freshen up, I've been so relaxed and chilled out but working incredibly hard on my game. I love batting, don't really like watching cricket. [Tim] has done a terrific job, he's got a group together doing a terrific job. Bowling Marnus showed a bit of courage, Tim's been exceptional. I'm two hundreds from two games at The Oval, so it's a place I like batting. We came here to win the Ashes. We'll do our best to go 3 up at The Oval."

I'm going to wrap things up there for today. You can relive the final day in Andrew Miller's report which will be up shortly and we'll have plenty more reaction from Dan Brettig, George Dobell and Mel Farrell over the next few hours.

Congratulations to Australia on retaining the Ashes. We've got one more Test to go in this series and we'll be back to bring you all the action from The Oval on Thursday. Until then, from Gnasher, Matt and Saurabh it's goodbye.

91.3
W
Hazlewood to Overton, OUT

rapped on the pads and the finger goes up! Of course Overton will review, but I think he's a goner here. Length ball, nipping back in, don't think he read that, and it hits him on the knee roll, in front of the stumps. And it's three reds. Australia will retain the Ashes. It was a fantastic fight by Overton, and England, but Australia relentlessly kept at it and broke through in the last hour. What a match. What a finish.

Craig Overton lbw b Hazlewood 21 (105b 2x4 0x6 172m) SR: 20
91.2
Hazlewood to Overton, no run

short ball again, doesn't rise much and pings him just above the waist. He was ducking into it and realised too late it wasn't rising high enough

91.1
Hazlewood to Overton, no run

length ball coming in a touch, defended from the crease

MVelhal: "Give the people what they want!!! BRING ON STEVE SMITH!!!" - well not Steve Smith but there is a bowling change. Hazlewood

end of over 911 run
ENG: 197/9CRR: 2.16 
Stuart Broad0 (3b)
Craig Overton21 (102b 2x4)
Nathan Lyon 29-12-51-2
Marnus Labuschagne 4-1-9-1
90.6
Lyon to Broad, no run

length outside off, confident stride out to defend it into the offside. Massive cheers greet that shot

90.5
Lyon to Broad, no run

length outside off, holds its line, Broad comes forward to defend with bat close to pad, lets it go past

90.4
1
Lyon to Overton, 1 run

too short and spinning past, helps it along to fine leg. Starc is jogging casually after it but Overton and Broad decide they'll only take a single

90.3
Lyon to Overton, no run

length outside off, spinning in, goes right back and taps it towards leg slip

90.2
Lyon to Overton, no run

length on the stumps and that's a century of balls faced for Overton. Defended

90.1
Lyon to Overton, no run

fuller on the stumps, worked to midwicket

Lyon now from the other end. we are into the last hour

Zain Munawari: "These kind of thrilling test matches will certainly enhance the beauty of test cricket."

end of over 90Wicket maiden
ENG: 196/9CRR: 2.17 
Stuart Broad0 (1b)
Craig Overton20 (98b 2x4)
Marnus Labuschagne 4-1-9-1
Mitchell Starc 16-2-46-1
89.6
Labuschagne to Broad, no run

tossed up way too much, full toss, Broad pats it back down the pitch

Sandon: "Paine has had a great comeback from Headingly both with his captaincy and with the bat. Hope for his sake that Australia close this out now."

I have no idea how the players deal with tense finishes like this. My fingers need stretching just by watching and typing...

Australia are one wicket away. Stuart Broad walks out. He once had a Test century, but slotting in at 11 is probably a fair position for him

89.5
W
Labuschagne to Leach, OUT

caught by short leg! What a move by Paine to bring on the leggie! Ripped one into the rough on a length outside off, and it rears up at Leach, who fends it off from near his stomach, but it takes his gloves and pops up to the fielder stationed there. End of a great resistance by Leach

Jack Leach c Wade b Labuschagne 12 (51b 1x4 0x6 64m) SR: 23.52
89.4
Labuschagne to Leach, no run

tossed up fuller, defended on the front foot

89.3
Labuschagne to Leach, no run

straighter that time, whips it off his pads, but without timing

89.2
Labuschagne to Leach, no run

getting some sharp turn from the rough outisde the left handers's off stump, but he defends it

89.1
Labuschagne to Leach, no run

length ball, takes the pad to short leg

Labuschagne! Interesting move from Australia. Round the wicket to Leach

end of over 89Maiden
ENG: 196/8CRR: 2.20 
Craig Overton20 (98b 2x4)
Jack Leach12 (46b 1x4)
Mitchell Starc 16-2-46-1
Nathan Lyon 28-12-50-2
88.6
Starc to Overton, no run

back of a length, stump to stump, but a straightforward defensive punch

88.5
Starc to Overton, no run

back of a length, moving away across him, he yanks his bat out of the way as it goes past

kuldeep Yadav: "So all this comes down to Starc now. He is known to wrap tailenders. If this duo survives this spell.. then it will history all over again."

88.4
Starc to Overton, no run

length ball in the corridor, he covers his stumps and shoulders arms

88.3
Starc to Overton, no run

back of a length on the stumps, gets behind it and punches from the crease

88.2
Starc to Overton, no run

length ball on the stumps, gets nicely behind it and defends

Best performances - batters
Spike Graph
Wagon Zone
SPD Smith
211 runs (319)
24 fours2 sixes
Productive shot
flick
69 runs
2 fours0 six
Control
91%
SPD Smith
82 runs (92)
11 fours0 six
Productive shot
flick
18 runs
1 four0 six
Control
81%
Best performances - bowlers
PJ Cummins
O
24
M
9
R
43
W
4
ECO
1.79
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
2W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
1W
JR Hazlewood
O
25
M
6
R
57
W
4
ECO
2.28
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
2W
1W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
Match details
Old Trafford, Manchester
TossAustralia, elected to bat first
Series
Season2019
Player Of The Match
Series resultAustralia led the 5-match series 2-1
Match numberTest no. 2360
Hours of play (local time)11:00 start, Lunch 13.00-13.40, Tea 15.40-16.00, Close 18.00
Match days4,5,6,7,8 September 2019 - day (5-day match)
Umpires
TV Umpire
Reserve Umpire
Match Referee
PointsAustralia 24, England 0
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ICC World Test Championship

TEAMMWLDPTRPWR
IND1712415201.577
ENG2111734421.12
NZ117404201.281
AUS148423321.392
PAK124532860.822
SA135802640.787
SL122642000.729
WI133821940.661
BAN7061200.601