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Australia reclaims Ashes in Perth
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Australia regained the Ashes from England with two matches still to play after a series-clinching win in the third test at the WACA in Perth yesterday.
Steve Smith鈥檚 ruthless Australians followed up their convincing victories in the first two tests in Brisbane and Adelaide by winning the third by an even more emphatic margin of an innings and 41 runs to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Needing to bat through the fifth and final day to salvage a draw and keep the series alive, England crumbled to be all out for just 218 after Australia鈥檚 fickle weather almost saved the visitors, losing their last six wickets in 34 overs to hand the old urn back to Australia.
鈥淐aptaining an Ashes winning side is an amazing feeling. It鈥檚 a moment we鈥檝e been looking forward to, so much has gone into the preparation, the way we鈥檝e gone about it was spectacular,鈥 Smith said at the presentation. 鈥淪o many emotions coming out, the boys are going to celebrate hard tonight.
鈥淭o win an amazing Ashes series, to be 3-0 up and get that urn back, I鈥檓 really proud.鈥
Yesterday鈥檚 scheduled start of play was delayed by three hours because of heavy overnight rain that leaked through the covers and left some wet patches on the pitch, briefly raising England鈥檚 hopes they could hold on for a draw and frustrate Australia鈥檚 ruthless pursuit of victory.
But the end came swiftly enough once the ground staff dried the pitch using leaf blowers and the umpires agreed to let play finally recommence after lunch with Australian paceman Josh Hazlewood ripping through England鈥檚 middle and lower order batsmen.
Hazlewood clean bowled England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow for 14 with his first delivery of the day, then added the key wickets of Dawid Malan (54) and Craig Overton (12) to complete his first five-wicket haul in an Ashes test and finish with the impressive figures of 5-48.
Spinner Nathan Lyon (2-42), who has tormented England throughout the series, removed Moeen Ali for 11 before express paceman Pat Cummins (2-53) dismissed Stuart Broad (no score) and Chris Woakes (22) to seal Australia鈥檚 lopsided win just before the rescheduled tea break.
鈥淰ery difficult to take but fair play to Australia, they鈥檝e outplayed us in all three games and we鈥檝e got to be better,鈥 England skipper Joe Root said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to learn from it and get better but there鈥檚 good things to come from this week. Those guys putting in big performances under pressure was outstanding.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to make sure we go to Melbourne, prepare well and put in a good performance there.鈥
England had won four of the last five Ashes series against its great cricket rival but was swept 0-5 on its last visit to Australia four years ago and could face the same gloomy prospect again with back-to-back matches in Melbourne and Sydney still to come.
England was seemingly in a strong position after racing to 368-4 in its first innings but collapsed to be all out for 403 as the Australians seized control and never let up, just as they had in the first two matches.
The home side led by 259 runs after compiling a daunting total of 662-9 on the back of a 301-run partnership from man of the match Smith (239) and recalled allrounder Mitchell Marsh (181).
鈥淭hat really set the game up for us, to get us in the lead. I鈥檓 just so proud of the boys, the way we鈥檝e been able to wrap things up here in Perth and get that urn back,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to celebrate this one first. The Boxing Day test match is an amazing occasion, hopefully we can get ourselves 4-0 and maybe 5-0 in Sydney. Everyone has been fantastic to get us the result we deserve.鈥
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