* Visitors fall short of victory by 49 runs
London, Aug 1: England’s Stuart Broad has claimed the last two Australia wickets to secure a dramatic 49-run victory for his team in the final Ashes Test at The Oval cricket stadium and leave the series locked at 2-2 after five gripping matches.
Broad, playing his final Test, removed Todd Murphy and Alex Carey, both caught by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, to dismiss Australia for 334 and deny them their first Ashes win in England since 2001.
Ben Stokes, England captain said: Feel really good. 2-2 is a fair reflection at the end of the series. Australia, WTC champions, absolute quality team. Don’t think many teams would’ve been able to respond like we did after being 2-0 down. Very proud of the entire team and the effort they put in. Having played a lot of cricket here, you know what it’s like in the 4th innings. Australia played really well yesterday but turning up here and knowing that you still need 250 runs is really tough. The wickets came in clusters like they usually do. Our mentality was great. Real good, the way in which Woakes has come in. Not only with the ball but also with some crucial runs. He did an amazing job in the first two Test matches he came in. Wood could barely walk today, he was very sore but he gave it his best and still said he was ready to bowl.
Pat Cummins, Australia captain:l, said: I think so (that 2-2 is a fair result). Two really high quality teams and it was a wonderful series to be part of. I didn’t even entertain the conversation of a draw, we were here to win the Ashes and it was a great day of Test cricket. We can be hugely proud of retaining the Ashes, not easy to do that against a quality England side. There were so many moments in this series, that’s what makes Ashes so special, the crowd and the pressure, a couple of moments if you could change then the result would have been different. Great competitor, always saves his best for Australia, he has had some hard days in Australia but always keeps coming and I wish him all the best.
Mitchell Starc, Australia Player of the Series, said: It’s been an incredible five Test matches, been exciting, ebbs and flows throughout. The way we finished today, spoke of the quality of cricket and the emotions of the Ashes. Happened quickly, much like the ebbs and flows of this series. It’s come down to the last session of Day 5. Congratulations to Stuart Broad, couldn’t have probably written it better for him. It’s been a fantastic tour. I’ve had the backing from the group, fantastic group to be a part of. We’ve had a fantastic tour considering the 6 Test matches we’ve played. It’s quite a resilient group. We’ve got a fantastic support staff. No doubt been a busy 8 weeks, the quality of cricket on display has been fantastic. {On Bazball] Didn’t approach it too differently than I would have. Was great to witness two different approaches to Test cricket. We looked at traditional ways of playing Test cricket, playing attacking cricket and setting fields and it worked for us.