Australia captain Pat Cummins described the moment as “pretty awesome” on Sunday after his dominant side wrapped up the Ashes with victory in the third Test in Adelaide, sealing the series in just 11 days of play despite a defiant final-day stand from England’s tail, reports AFP.
Chasing a record 435 to win, England’s last four wickets added a stubborn 145 runs before they were finally dismissed for 352, handing Australia an 82-run victory and ensuring the famous urn remained in Australian hands.
Scott Boland claimed the decisive wicket when Josh Tongue was caught by Marnus Labuschagne, triggering jubilant celebrations among players and fans alike.
“It feels pretty awesome,” Cummins said. “It wasn’t easy today, but we got it done. The last couple of months have been a grind. But it’s all worth it for days like this — old-fashioned hard work. I love the toil from all the guys.”
England needed victory to keep the five-match series alive after heavy defeats in Perth, where they lost inside two days, and Brisbane, with two Tests still to come in Melbourne and Sydney.
Australia suffered a setback on the final day when veteran spinner Nathan Lyon injured his hamstring while fielding and limped off after saving a boundary. He was later seen on crutches and sent for scans, putting his availability for the Melbourne Test, starting Friday, and the Sydney Test on January 4 in doubt.
“It doesn’t look great,” Cummins said. “Seeing someone on crutches a week out from a Test doesn’t bode well. He’ll be hard to replace, but we’ve got players who’ve had a taste of international cricket.”
Cummins, returning to Test cricket after a long layoff with lower back issues, suggested he may skip the Melbourne Test as a precaution. “We’ll wait and see over the next couple of days. I doubt I’ll play Melbourne, and then we’ll have a chat about Sydney,” he said.
England’s series defeat in just 11 days of play is the joint second-fastest Ashes loss in more than a century, surpassed only by the eight-day defeat of 1921. Their ultra-attacking “Bazball” approach again came under scrutiny.
“That dream is now over, which is incredibly disappointing,” said England captain Ben Stokes. “Everyone is hurting and emotional. It hurts, it sucks — but we’re not going to stop.”
Stokes took encouragement from England’s fight in Adelaide, having demanded greater resilience from his side before the match. “That’s what I wanted to see, and I saw it this week,” he said. “We’ve still got so much to play for, and we’ll be flying into the next two games.”
The result stands in stark contrast to pre-series optimism that England had their best chance in a generation to win an Ashes series in Australia. Instead, they have now gone 18 Tests without a victory on Australian soil, dating back to their last series triumph in 2010–11.
Resuming on 207–6, England briefly threatened a comeback through Jamie Smith and Will Jacks. Smith struck an aggressive 60 before lofting Mitchell Starc to Cummins at midwicket after the second new ball was taken.
Jacks registered his highest Test score of 47 and edged England within 100 runs of the target before a stunning diving catch by Labuschagne, off Starc, ended his resistance. Starc then dismissed Jofra Archer before Boland removed Tongue to seal the Ashes and cap another dominant Australian performance.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
