England suffered a batting collapse as they were bowled out for just 124 and 38.5 overs on the third day of the fifth and final Test of the Ashes 2021-22 series on Sunday, with the hosts winning by a huge margin of 146 runs.
Australia thus won the coveted Ashes series 4-0, having recorded victories by big margins in the first Test by 9 wickets at Brisbane, by 275 runs in the second Test at Adelaide, by an innings and 14 runs in the third Test at Melbourne while drawing the fourth at Sydney.
England collapsed from 68/0 to 124 all out in a matter of just a few overs as all-rounder Cameron Green, Australia captain Pat Cummins as well as Scott Boland took three wickets each. The left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc took one wicket in the form of England all-rounder Ben Stokes.
Earlier in the day, the home team could not provide any resistance to England fast bowler Mark Wood, who returned with impressive figures of 16.3-to-37-6. Wood accounted for the likes of Usman Khawaja (11), Steve Smith (27), Scott Boland (8), Travis Head (8), Mitchell Starc (1) and Cummins 13 as he displayed a fine performance of fast bowling.
Australia were bowled out for just 155 in the second innings, but a huge lead of 115 runs in the first essay helped them to set a target of 270 against England in the final Test. But, despite a strong start in which England openers Rory Burns and Zak Crawley added 68 runs, the visiting side suffered an embarrassing batting collapse to be bowled out for just 124 a little after the tea break.
Earlier in the match, a brilliant 101 from Travis Head in the first innings had helped Australia put a strong total of 303 on board. England had won the toss and decided to field first, following which they took early wickets to reduce Australia to 12/3 on the first day. But a a strong stand for the fifth wicket between Head and Green for 121 runs helped Australia revive from a poor start and put themselves ahead in the contest.
In their reply, England continued to bat poorly as none of them could pose any kind of threat to the Australian bowlers. All-rounder Chris Woakes top-scored with 36 whereas Sam Billings (29), Joe Root (34) and Dawid Malan (25) failed to convert the starts into big scores.
