Joe Root and Ben Stokes win first-ever Ashes Test in Australia as England avoid 5-0 at MCG
Joe Root and Ben Stokes finally won a Test in Australia after 18 and 13 matches respectively.
For nearly fifteen years, Australia had been England’s graveyard. Legendary England players in Joe Root and Ben Stokes didn’t know what it is like to win in Australia. But that ends today. On Thursday evening at the MCG, that curse finally cracked. In a Test that barely lasted two full days, England chased down 175 and sealed their first victory on Australian soil since 2010, avoiding the humiliation of a clean sweep in the process.
Controversial Melbourne pitch
The surface will rightly come under scrutiny. Twenty-six wickets fell across the first five sessions, and neither side ever truly looked comfortable. But England were the braver, sharper side when it mattered. After being bowled out for 110, they clawed their way back through discipline and relentless pressure, eventually winning by four wickets and sending the travelling supporters into rare celebration.Itwas
It was also a strangely historic match. No batter from either team crossed fifty, making this the first Test in Australia since 1932 without an individual half-century. It was messy, chaotic, and at times borderline absurd. England will not care.
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