England retains Ashes

29 December 2010 03:04 am

England clinched the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years, after inflicting one of Australia's heaviest losses. England convincingly clinched their win by a margin of an innings and 157 runs on the fourth morning at the MCG.

It took less than 90 minutes for England to collect the three wickets they needed for victory, and when bowler Tim Bresnan picked up his fourth wicket, an edge behind from Ben Hilfenhaus, the celebrations began.

Bresnan finished with 4 for 50 and was mobbed by his team-mates when the final wicket fell and the big collection of England fans at the MCG burst into full voice. It was a wonderful moment for England, who will now aim to turn their 2-1 lead into a series victory at the SCG next week, but as the holders of the Ashes before the tour they have done enough to retain the urn.

England 513 (Trott 168*, Prior 85, Cook 82, Strauss 69, Pietersen 51, Siddle 6-75) beat Australia 98 (Tremlett 4-26, Anderson 4-44) and 258 (Haddin 55*, Watson 54, Bresnan 4-50) by an innings and 157 runs






Australia v England 4th Test scores
               
Scoreboard at the close on the fourth day of the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday:

Australia 1st innings 98 (M. Clarke 20; C. Tremlett 4-26, J. Anderson 4-44):

England 1st innings 513 (J. Trott 168 not out, M. Prior 85, A. Cook 82; P. Siddle 6-75):

Australia 2nd innings (overnight 169 for 6):


S. Watson    lbw b Bresnan    54

P. Hughes    run out (Trott)    23

R. Ponting    b Bresnan    20

M. Clarke c Strauss b Swann    13

M. Hussey c Bell b Bresnan    0

S. Smith    b Anderson    38

B. Haddin    not out        55

M. Johnson    b Tremlett    6

P. Siddle c Pietersen b Swann    40

B. Hilfenhaus c Prior b Bresnan    0

Extras (b1, lb6, w2)        9

Total (9 wkts, 85.4 overs)    258

Did not bat: R. Harris (ankle injury)

Fall of wickets: 1-53 (Hughes), 2-99 (Watson), 3-102 (Ponting), 4-104 (Hussey), 5-134 (Clarke), 6-158 (Smith), 7-172 (Johnson), 8-258 (Siddle), 9-258 (Hilfenhaus)

Bowling: Anderson 20-1-71-1 (1w), Tremlett 17-3-71-1, Swann 27-11-59-2, Bresnan 21.4-8-50-4

Result: England won by an innings and 157 runs

Series: England lead 2-1

Man-of-the-match: Jonathan Trott (ENG)

Toss: England

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Tony Hill (NZL)

TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
   
AFP