Australia won the Ashes series 2021-2022 with two games to spare after defeating England by an innings and 14 runs at the MCG in Melbourne on Tuesday (December 28). Australia needed 6 more wickets when the play started on day 3, which they achieved in just 15.4 overs. Australia have also climbed to the top spot in the ICC Test Championship. With this defeat, England matched Bangladesh for the most Test defeats in a calendar year (9) with nine. Take a look at the third Test match report between Australia and England.    

Australia vs England 2021-2022 Ashes Series: Third Test Match Report   

Australia's strategy for the Boxing Day Test against England panned out flawlessly, as they won the match in two days and a half session. At the end of day 2, England had six wickets in hand and needed 51 more runs to avoid a humiliating innings loss. However, the Australian pacers were ruthless on day 3 and took the remainder of the English wickets in just 15 overs and 4 balls. 

The regular Australian captain Pat Cummins returned to this match after missing the second Test due to covid-19 restrictions. English batters have struggled against Australia's bowling attack in this series. 

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Cummins elected to bat first in order to limit England to a modest total. Another crucial point is that batting gets a lot easier on day two at the MCG. Because of Cummins' choice to bowl first, Australia were able to restrict England to only 185 runs in the first innings.         

In response, Australia scored 267 runs in their first innings to take an 82-run lead in the first innings. England needed a courageous effort in the second innings in order to stay alive in the game. However, they were down to 31/4 at the end of the second day's play. 

Melbourne-born pacer Scott Boland was brilliant with his accuracy with the ball on day 3. The England batters had no idea how to deal with his excellent bowling. Boland demolished England's middle and lower orders after Mitchell Starc's early breakthrough. Mitchell Starc clean bowled Ben Stokes with a full-length ball in the fifth over of the day. 

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Boland then removed Root, Bairstow, Wood, and Robinson, making the task for the host much easier. Medium-pacer Cameron Green took the last wicket of England's second innings to give Australia an innings win. England were bowled out for 68 runs, with Joe Root (28) leading the way with 28 runs.

Joe Root, too, experienced an embarrassment in this match. He became one of the top five captains in Test format with the most defeats after losing this contest.

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     Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/

Player of the Match 

Debutant Scott Boland was named player of the match for his outstanding performance in the contest. He took six wickets for only seven runs in the second innings. Boland finished the match with 7 wickets for 55 runs.  

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ICC Test Championship 2021-2023: Current Points Table

Australia have won all three matches and climbed to the top of the points table in their second cycle of the ICC Test Championship campaign. On the other hand, England have dropped to seventh place in the points standings.    

Current Points Table of Test Championship (as of December 28, 2021)

      Source: https://www.icc-cricket.com/world-test-championship/standings

Aftermath

After securing the Ashes series, Australia's main target now would be to whitewash England in front of a home crowd. They have a genuine opportunity to win an Ashes series 5-0 for the first time in eight years. Australia last swept England in the 2013/2014 season. On the other hand, England will be hoping to avoid a humiliating whitewash by gaining some Test Championship points before the end of the Ashes series. The fourth Test will begin on January 5 in Sydney, followed by the fifth Test on January 14 in Hobart. 

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