Adelaide [Australia], December 21 (ANI): Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has criticised the Ben Stokes-led side after their 82-run loss in the third Test at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, and Australia retaining the Ashes after taking an unbeaten 3-0 lead in the ongoing five-match Test series.
Pietersen took on to his X handle, and said that this defeat is tough to understand because Australia were without Josh Hazlewood and Steve Smith. “No Hazlewood, hardly any Cummins, Smith, Lyon, etc, makes this defeat tough to understand.”
“Seen more dismissals this morning that tell me all I need to know about an earlier tweet I wrote, saying that batters are not tuned into Test Cricket anymore,” Pietersen wrote.
Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. But the relentless pace of Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse put them in a soup at 94/4 in their first innings.
It was Usman Khawaja’s veteran instincts and signature cuts and sweeps during his 126-ball 82, consisting of 10 fours, which slowly brought back the momentum to the Aussies, with Alex Carey also firing at the other end.
Carey brought up his maiden Ashes ton, scoring 106 in 143 balls, with eight fours and a six. A half-century run stand between Mitchell Starc (54 in 75 balls, with eight fours) and Scott Boland (14*) troubled England just when they wanted to bundle Aussies for below 300.
Aussies scored 371 in 91.2 overs. Archer (5/53) delivered a brilliant fifer for England, with Josh Tongue and Will Jacks getting a couple each.
Later, Nathan Lyon (2/70) and skipper Pat Cummins (3/70) kept England away from forming big partnerships, reducing them to 168/8 by getting wickets just when England looked to find an escape.
However, a century stand between skipper Ben Stokes (83 in 198 balls, with eight fours) and a resolute Archer (51 in 105 balls, with five fours and a six) powered England to 286, with their trail at 85 runs.
Boland played a significant role in wiping out the tail-end with three wickets.In their second innings, England had the upper hand over Australia at one point, with Australia at 149/4. However, hometown heroes Travis Head (170 in 219 balls, with 16 fours and two sixes) and Carey (72 in 128 balls, with six fours) revelled amid loud cheers from the crowd, outbattling England one delivery at a time.
While England was better with the ball on day four and wiped them out for 349 runs, a record run-chase of 435 runs awaited England. Tongue (4/80) and Carse (3/80) were amongst the top bowlers for England.
After a first-ball boundary in their run chase, England’s Ben Duckett (4) lost his wicket and Ollie Pope (17) also continued to find slip fielders as England were reduced to 31/2. Joe Root (39 in 63 balls, with five fours) and Harry Brook put on a 78-run stand, giving their team some normalcy.
Root continued to be a “nicking machine”, falling to Cummins for the second time in the match and for the 13th time overall in Tests.
Crawley, who looked uncharacteristically patient, carried England’s hopes forward with Brook until a brain-fade reverse sweep from Brook ended his stay at 56 balls and triggered a mini-collapse from 177/3 to 194/6.
Jamie Smith (60 in 83 balls, with seven fours) and Will Jacks put on a 91-run stand, making England fans believe and dare to dream until the adrenaline of counter-attacking Starc got the best of Jamie.
Jacks (47 in 137 balls, with three fours) put on a half-century stand with Carse (39* in 64 balls, with four boundaries and a six) to keep England’s heart beating, but after Jacks was gone, there was no coming back as Australia bundled out England for 352 runs.
Cummins (3/48), Starc (3/62) and Lyon (3/77) shone with the ball, denying England another shot at an Ashes series win in Australia since 2010/11 and keeping them winless in Aussie land since that glorious moment. Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead, and Carey was given the ‘Player of the Match’ honours for his knocks of 106 and 72. (ANI)
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