Australia’s Thrilling Chase: Rain Suspends Play with England on Verge of Loss
Play was suspended at the Oval on Sunday due to rain, leaving Australia’s thrilling chase in the balance as they were on the verge of a potential victory against England in the fifth Ashes Test. With Australia requiring 249 more runs to win with all wickets intact, the match was set up for a potentially thrilling finish to a classic series.
The fourth day had already been frustrated by rain, with Australia going for an early tea, which eventually turned into the end of the day’s play, at 135-0 in their second innings after 38 overs.
Australia, who had quickly dismissed England for 395 in the morning, was chasing a target of 384, which was 121 runs more than the ground record. However, with Stuart Broad retiring from cricket after this match, he provided a swashbuckling six to entertain the crowd.
David Warner and Usman Khawaja were at the crease, with Warner on 58 not out and Khawaja on 69 not out. Australia leads the five-test series 2-1 and has already retained the urn.
After lunch, England pacer Mark Wood was finally introduced in the 33rd over of the innings, and Australia achieved two milestones. Warner’s single brought up the hundred partnership for the first wicket, while Khawaja’s edge for four secured his third half-century of the series.
Warner followed suit and reached fifty off 90 balls in his final innings in England, signaling his intention to retire in January. Khawaja also reached 60 and became the leading run-scorer for this Ashes series, surpassing Zak Crawley’s 480-run effort.
Although Broad bowled well, he was unable to dismiss Warner for an 18th time in his career. England, aiming to secure a 2-2 scoreline and a share of the spoils in a highly absorbing series, needs to take 10 wickets on the final day. However, there is a real chance that Australia could win on English soil for the first time in 22 years, with rain still expected, albeit not as much as Sunday.
Australia’s pursuit of victory would be a remarkable achievement, as they would need to complete the eighth-highest fourth-innings chase in test history, the second-best by an Australian side, and the second-best in England.
Unfortunately, rain intervened again at 2:41 p.m., leading to an early tea that eventually resulted in the abandonment of play at 4:47 p.m. local time.
Earlier in the day, Broad made headlines with his surprise announcement of retirement. England resumed at 389-9, and Broad received a guard of honor from the Australian players as he came out to bat. He managed to hit a six off the last delivery from Mitchell Starc’s over before being dismissed, ending his innings undefeated on eight. Todd Murphy then trapped James Anderson lbw to dismiss England.
At lunch, Australia’s openers, Warner and Khawaja, guided the team to 75 without loss. The rain interruption was a welcome break for England, which was losing momentum as Australia continued to score runs.
Bowling figures for Australia: Starc 4-100, Hazlewood 1-67, Cummins 1-79, Marsh 0-35, and Murphy 4-110.
Despite the rain affecting the outcome of the match, cricket fans are eagerly awaiting the final day’s play to see if Australia can secure a historic victory or if England can salvage a draw.
