Australia won the 2021-2022 Ashes series 4-0 after winning the fifth and final Test match by 146 runs at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Sunday (January 16, 2022). The match lasted barely three days, with Australia dominating for the majority of the time. Australia have solidified their position in the current ICC Test Championship points standings with this victory. On the other hand, England have stayed at the bottom of the standings. The fifth Test match report between Australia and England is discussed in this article. Australia vs England 2021-2022 Ashes: Fifth Test Match Report      Australia wanted to set a target of more than 300 runs for England when they stepped out to bat on day 3. However, Australia were bowled out for 155 runs in the second innings immediately after the lunch break. As a result, England needed 271 runs to win the fifth match of the series. But, the English team was bowled out for only 124 runs in the last session of the day, losing the match by 146 runs. Australian pacers rattled the English batters in both innings.  Aussie skipper Pat Cummins took the most wickets in the match, with seven. While Starc, Boland, and Green each took four wickets in the contest. Read Where does Virat Kohli stand among the all-time best Test Cricket Captains? Earlier, Australia batted first and scored 303 runs in their first innings. Travis Head hit a century in the first inning. Head and Cameron Green (74) put up a 121-run partnership in the fifth wicket, allowing Australia to amass more than 300 runs in the first innings. In response, England were bowled out for 188 runs in 47.4 overs, giving Australia a 115-run first-innings lead. England's best bowler in the match was Mark Wood. He took 9 wickets, including a 6-wicket haul in the second innings. Mark Wood's bowling figure in the second innings was 16.3-2-37-6. Read Cricket Qualifier for 2022 Commonwealth Games: Bangladesh Women’s team to start Campaign on January 18 Top Performers in Australia vs England 2021-2022 Ashes Australian players topped the top performers list in both batting and bowling. Left-handed batter Travis Head scored the most runs (357) in six innings with a 59.90 batting average. The only English player in the top five most run-scorers list was right-handed batter Joe Root. Most Runs Scored in the Ashes Series 2021-2022 Player Inn Runs HS Ave 100s Travis Head (AUS) 6 357 152 59.50 2 Marnus Labuschagne (AUS) 9 335 103 41.87 1 Joe Root (ENG) 10 322 89 32.20 0 David Warner (AUS) 8 273 95 34.12 0 Usman Khawaja (AUS) 4 255 137 85.00 2  Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Australia's skipper Pat Cummins was the most successful bowler in the series. He took 21 wickets that was the highest in the series. The lone England bowler in the top five most wicket-takers list was right-handed pacer Mark Wood. Read South Africa Clinch Test Series with a Dominant Victory Over India in the Third Test Most Wicket-Getters in the Ashes Series 2021-2022 Player Inn Wickets BBI Ave 5W Pat Cummins (AUS) 8 21 5/38 18.04 1 Mitchell Starc (AUS) 10 19 4/37 25.36 0 Scott Boland (AUS) 6 18 6/7 9.55 1 Mark Wood (ENG) 7 17 6/37 26.64 1 Nathan Lyon (AUS) 7 16 4/91 23.56 0 Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Player of the Match Travis Head was named player of the match for his incredible century in the first innings. In addition, the left-handed batter was named Player of the Series for scoring 357 runs in six innings.   Read Bangladesh Cricket Captains: Performance Review for the Year 2021  ICC World Test Championship (2021-2023 Cycle) Points Table  Sri Lanka are the only side that has yet to lose a match in the ongoing Test Championship. Therefore, they remain in first place in the standings. England are at the bottom of the table with only one win and six losses. ICC World Test Championship Points Table (as of January 16, 2022) Position Team PCT (%) 1 Sri Lanka 100.00 2 Australia 86.66 3 Pakistan 75.00 4 South Africa 66.66 5   India 49.07 6   New Zealand 33.33 7 Bangladesh 25.00 8 West Indies 25.00 9 England 9.25 Source: https://www.icc-cricket.com/world-test-championship/standings Bottom Line Australia dominated all through the Ashes 2021-2022 and deservedly won the series at 4-0. The host sealed the series with two games to spare after winning the third Test in Melbourne. They had a chance to whitewash the visitors, but a tenacious English team drew the fourth Test in Sydney, avoiding a humiliating sweep at the hands of arch-rivals Australian Test side. Australia have a strong chance to climb the ICC Test Championship points standings when the India-Sri Lanka Test series begins next month. Oppositely, England's chances of making the final in the second cycle of the World Test Championship are currently very slim after losing two tough series to India and Australia.      Read BPL 2022 Live Streaming: Where to Watch the Most Anticipated Domestic Cricket Matches?

New Zealand have taken a giant stride in the ongoing Christchurch Test after posting a massive total of 521 for six in the first innings and declared, and right after that, Bangladesh suffered a familiar batting collapse in the format.  At the end of day two, New Zealand are leading by 395 runs.  Read:Latham, Conway come up with thumping response Devon Conway completed his second hundred of the series off the first ball of the day while Tom Latham registered his double ton.  After Conway was trapped run-out by Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ross Taylor came to bat, and the Bangladesh players gave a guard of honour as he was playing his last Test.  Taylor could only make 28 runs in, probably, his last innings in the format. With this Test, Taylor played a total of 112 Tests and he amassed more than 7500 runs with 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries.  In reply to New Zealand’s massive total, Bangladesh ended up on 126 for 10 after they were brought down to 11 for four. Yasir Ali Rabbi hit his maiden fifty while coming up with a 60-run stand in the sixth-wicket partnership.  None of Bangladesh’s top five batters was able to reach a double-digit score with two departed with a duck each. Yasir ended up on 55 while Nurul Hasan Shohan, who was playing to replace injured Mushfiqur Rahim, posted 41. After Yasir and Shohan departed, Bangladesh’s innings ended fast.  Trent Boult scalped five wickets— his ninth five-for in his Test career while Time Southee took three and Kyle Jamieson bagged two.  Along the process, Boult completed 300 wickets in Tests.  Read:Pumped-up Tigers aim for monumental series win against Blackcaps “Milestones don't really matter, there are some big names in this list. There was a good amount of pace and bounce on this wicket, enjoyed bowling on the surface - with Southee in, gives us a left-right combination well,” Boult said at the end of day’s play.  Bangladesh won the first Test by eight wickets— which was Bangladesh’s maiden Test win against New Zealand and the first win in New Zealand soil in 32 attempts across the format.

Australia won the 2021-2022 Ashes series after three straight victories against England. When the Sydney Test began, they were on a mission to whitewash England. However, England's tail-enders survived a tense last hour of the match to deny Australia a 5-0 series victory. Australia will play the fifth match in Hobart with the goal of completing the series 4-0, while England will try to restore some pride. The series' final match will begin on January 14. The fourth Test match report of Australia vs England is discussed in this article.   Australia vs England 2021-2022 Ashes: Fourth Test Match Report     When England batted in the closing hour of day 4, they had a mammoth 388-run target. Therefore, the English campaign preferred to save the match rather than go after the target. The English openers survived the fourth day, scoring 30 runs in 11 overs. The openers started fresh with the hopes of drawing the match, but new sensation Scott Boland gave Australia an early breakthrough in the first hour on day five. He sent Haseeb Hameed back to the pavilion in the tenth over of the day. Read BPL 2022: The Favourites, Outsiders and Underdogs The England batters tried to build big partnerships in the middle but were unable to do so. In fact, most of England's partnerships lasted 10 to 15 overs. With only two wickets remaining in the closing hour of day five, the match was heading towards a nail-biting finish. Steven Smith infused some excitement into the match by dismissing Jack Leach two overs short of the scheduled over. England were able to draw the match with the help of two veteran cricketers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Zack Crawley (77) and Ben Stokes (60) both scored crucial runs for England, while Australia's most successful bowler in the second innings was Scott Boland (3/30). Read: Memorable International Cricket Moments in 2021 Australia made one major change for the fourth Test in Sydney. Travis Head was replaced by Usman Khawaja. The elegant left-hander made the most of his opportunity, smashing back-to-back hundreds in the contest. Khawaja's 137 in the first innings contributed to Australia's 416/8d total. For England, Stuart Broad took 5 wickets in the first innings. However, England were bowled out for 294 runs in their first innings, handing Australia a 122-run lead. Jonny Bairstow scored 113 runs for the visitors, while Scott Boland took the most wickets for the hosts with four. Australia were much more aggressive in the second innings. They declared their innings on 265/6d after setting England a 388-run target. Usman Khawaja sparkled once more with the bat, finishing undefeated on 101*. Jack Leach took the most wickets with four for the English team. Player of the Match Osman Khawaja was awarded player of the match for his amazing batting effort in the game. He scored centuries in both innings, allowing Australia to take complete control of the Sydney Test against England. Read: England clings on for a draw in dramatic 4th Ashes test 2021-2023 ICC Test Championship Points Table Sri Lanka top the ICC Test Championship points standings with 100 percent PCT, ahead of Australia and Pakistan. On the other hand, England have plummeted to the bottom of the current points table. ICC Test Championship Points Table (as of January 9, 2022) Position Team PCT (%) 1 Sri Lanka 100 2 Australia 83.33 3 Pakistan 75.00 4 India 55.21 5 South Africa 50.00 6 Bangladesh 33.33 7 West Indies 25.00 8 New Zealand 11.11 9 England 10.41            Source: https://www.icc-cricket.com/world-test-championship/standings Bottom Line The England team is having a very hard time in the ongoing Ashes series. England's top order has appeared to be shaky to face an inspiring Australia bowling unit. As a result, England's middle-order has been put under a lot of pressure, reducing their prospects of dominating during the match. England's bowlers have performed well in the series, although not as well as their opponents. Australia are expected to reclaim the number one position in the ICC Test Championship after this Ashes series. Oppositely, England's place in the standings may decline further, causing a major blow in their quest for the second cycle's final match.      Read BPL 2022: SWOT Analysis of all Six Teams

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.  Read Australia Snatch Complete Control of Third Ashes Test 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.  Read Memorable International Cricket Moments in 2021 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. Read Top 10 Most Memorable Football Moments of 2021 Here are the top five most Test defeats as a Captain Captain Match Loss Graeme Smith (South Africa) 109 29 Stephen Fleming (New Zealand) 80 27 Brian Lara (West Indies) 47 26 Joe Root (England) 58 23 Allan Border (Australia)                        93 22      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.   Read Sports Year in Review: A Flashback of the Major Events in 2021 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) Position Team PCT 1 Australia 100% 2 Sri Lanka 100% 3 Pakistan 75% 4 India 58.33% 5 West Indies 25% 6 New Zealand 16.66% 7 England 7.14% 8 Bangladesh 0% 9 South Africa 0%       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.  Read BPL 2022 squads at a glance after draft

At the end of day two, Australia have absolute control of the third match in the Ashes series 2021/2022. England need 51 more runs to escape an innings defeat with six wickets in hand. If Australia win this Test match, they will clinch the series with two games to spare. Following that, Australia will aim to finish the series with a total of 60 points. On the other hand, losing this series will surely be a major blow for England in their quest for the ICC Test Championship final of the second cycle. Let's take a look at the current scenario of the third Ashes Test. AUS vs ENG Third Ashes Test 2021: Match Scenario England must win the third Ashes Test in order to stay in the series.  They will have to put in some outstanding performances to overcome an inspiring Australian team. Considering the current situation of the play, England's chances of winning this Test are very slim. England’s First Innings England batted first and they were knocked out for only 185 runs in the third session of day 1. Once again, England's top order struggled with the bat, losing both openers for 13 runs. Dawid Malan and Captain Joe Root tried to rebuild the innings With 48 runs between them. The Australian captain Pat Cummins struck again for the hosts, sending Dawid Malan back to the pavilion just before lunch. Read South Africa-India 1st Test Gets Underway with KL Rahul's Splendid Century Joe Root (50), Ben Stokes (25), and Jos Buttler (35) sought to put up some resistance in the middle but were unable to prolong their innings. England lost all of their wickets within the first hour of the third session. Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon each took three wickets for Australia. Australia’s First Innings In reply, Australia gained an 82-run lead in the first innings before being bowled out for 267 in the second session on day 2. David Warner (38) and Marcus Harris (76) got Australia off to a good start with a 57-run opening partnership. Australia failed to form any big partnership in this innings, although they did have several successful stands that allowed them to gain a significant lead in the first innings. England's most efficient bowler in this innings was veteran pacer, James Anderson. He took the most wickets with four with an economy rate of 1.43. Read South Africa-India 1st Test Gets Underway with KL Rahul's Splendid Century England’s Ongoing Second Innings England needed to get off to a good start in order to overcome Australia's 82-run lead. However, they lost wickets at regular intervals in the second innings, just as they did in the first. England are 31/4 at the end of day two of the third Ashes Test, which means they need another 51 runs to avoid an innings loss. Joe Root (12*) and Ben Stokes (2*) both have stayed unbeaten, and they will have to shoulder most of the responsibility if England are to post a substantial score in the second innings. Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland each have two wickets for Australia so far. Verdict  England batters have suffered a lot in the ongoing Ashes series 2021-2022. In other words, the Australian bowling unit outperforms the English batters. The best result England can hope for in this encounter is to avoid an innings defeat. With Australia's strong bowling attack, even averting an innings defeat appears to be a long shot at this point. This underwhelming English Test team has a small chance of winning at least one match in the remaining Ashes series.  Read Bangladesh’s Iconic Sports Achievements in 2021

Australia have taken control of the second Test of the ongoing 2021-2022 Ashes series thanks to a huge first-innings total. The hosts are presently in a great position to defeat England in the encounter. Captain Steven Smith declared their second innings after setting England a 468-run target to level the series. England have scored 82/4 at the end of day 4 and they will need 386 more runs to win. Let's have a look at the second match scenario of the 2021 Ashes series between Australia and England. AUS vs ENG Test Series 2021: Second Match Scenario Australia’s Test Captain Pat Cummins is missing the second Test as he came close to a covid-19 positive case prior to the match. He is now adhering to South Australian health guidelines about coronavirus. According to sources, Cummins is expected to lead Australia in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in Melbourne. Former Australian skipper Steven Smith is leading the Australian team in the second Test in Adelaide in the absence of Pat Cummins. The hosts have maintained a strong lead against arch-rivals England in the match and are expected to win on day five. Read Memorable International Cricket Moments in 2021 Australia’s First Innings Australia declared their first innings on 473/9d after electing to bat first. David Warner failed to reach his 25th Test century, but he and Marnus Labuschagne put on a solid 172-run stand for the second wicket. Warner returned to the pavilion after reaching 95 runs, while Labuschagne completed his century (103). When both batsmen left, Australia were at 241/3. In the first innings, Australia's skipper Steven Smith led the team to a big total. Smith returned to the pavilion after a 93-run innings. Alex Carey (51), Mitchell Starc (39), and Michael Neser (35) all gave him solid support in the middle. England's all-rounder Ben Stokes took the highest three wickets. Read England limps to 17-2 after Australia declares at 473-9 England’s First Innings England were bowled out for only 236 runs in their first innings, allowing Australia to take a 237-run lead. After quickly losing two openers, Captain Joe Root (62) and Dawid Malan (80) put up a third-wicket partnership of 138 runs. England hoped to make a strong comeback with their partnership, but following their departures, things started to shift in Australia's favor. England continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and failed to prevent a follow-on. However, Australia did not force England to bat again. Instead, they opted to bat once again. Left-arm quick pacer, Mitchell Starc took four wickets for Australia, while Nathan Lyon took three. Read Traditional folk sports of rural Bangladesh: A look back Australia’s Second Innings Australia were eager to score fast in the second innings. Therefore, they continued to lose wickets in the middle despite scoring quickly. Steven Smith declared their second innings on 230/9d just before the Tea on day 4. With a 467-run lead, Australia's campaign is confident of clinching the match, as they did in the first Test. Australia's Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head both scored 51 runs in the second innings. On the other hand, England's Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, and Dawid Malan each took two wickets. Read Memorable International Cricket Moments in 2021 England lost Rory Burns (34), Haseeb Hamid (0), Dawid Malan (20), and Captain Joe Root (24) in the hunt for 468 runs. Ben Stokes (3*) is unbeaten at the crease at the end of day 4. Verdict  Having already lost four crucial wickets, England's chances of winning the second Test of the 2021 Ashes series are slim. Furthermore, chasing a huge total on day five is never easy. If England are to win the match, they will need at least a couple of outstanding performances on the final day. On the other hand, Australia will be looking to take all of England's wickets as quickly as possible. In short, it's Australia's match to lose, and a team like Australia rarely makes a mistake in a game like this.  Read Achievements of Bangladesh in sports in 50 years since independence

Australia beat England in the first Ashes Test of the 2021-2022 season at the Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday (December 11), taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. England are missing a number of crucial players due to injuries, which might jeopardize their chances of winning the series. Aside from that, veteran pacer James Anderson was ruled out of the series opener. Despite this, England fought hard against Australia in the opening match but they were beaten in the second session on day four. Let's look at the first match report of the AUS vs ENG Test series 2021.  First Match Report: AUS vs ENG Test Series 2021 The Gabba ground in Brisbane hosted the opening Ashes match of the AUS vs ENG Test series 2021. Prior to the match, Australia were a slight favorite due to England's injury issues. The host took advantage of the situation and won the first match of the series.  England captain Joe Root opted to bat first, was looking for a huge first-inning total. However, the batters fell short of expectations and were bowled out for only 147 runs. Fiery pacer, Mitchell Starc got Australia off to a flying start with a first-ball strike. Opener Rory Burns misread the ball and was clean bowled by Starc. England lost three more wickets in the first innings, leaving them at 59/4 at lunch.   Read:Anamul wishes a national comeback relying on performance England's only big partnership (52) came between Jos Buttler (39) and Ollie Pope (35) for the sixth wicket in the first innings. However, England's innings crumbled when they left. Australia's captain Pat Cummins was the most successful bowler, taking the most wickets with five. In response, Australia surpassed England's first-innings total by one wicket. David Warner (94) and Marnus Labuschagne (74) put up a 156-run partnership in the second wicket. Later, Travis Head almost single-handedly carried Australia's innings with a stunning 152-run knock. It was his first Ashes century, and more crucially, the knock contributed to his team's victory in the match.  Australia were bowled out for 425 runs in the first session of day three. England began their second innings with a 278-run deficit, and the visitors sought a comeback with a 162-run partnership between skipper Joe Root (89) and Dawid Malan (82). However, their efforts were in vain as the Australian bowlers fought back with determination in the opening session of day four. They bowled England out for 297 runs and only lost one wicket in chasing down the 20-run target. Read:Tigers set to leave for New Zealand tonight Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon took the most wickets in the second innings with four. He also took his 400th Test wicket in this encounter.   Player of the Match Australian middle-order batsman Travis Head was the unsung hero of the first Test match. His magnificent 152-run first-innings effort helped Australia to a commanding lead against arch-rivals England. Travis Head was rightfully named the best player of the match.  Way Forward   England pushed hard in the second innings to make a comeback after getting bowled out for a low total in the first innings. However, Australia's first-inning lead was too much for England to recover. Therefore, England were unable to establish a significant lead and put Australia under pressure in the run chase. Australia have opened their account in the ICC Test Championship's 2021-2023 cycle with this victory.  On the other hand, England have dropped to the sixth position with only 14 points. The second match of the AUS vs ENG Test series 2021 will take place at the Adelaide Oval from December 16. In the second match, Australia will seek to increase their series edge, while England will attempt a comeback at the Adelaide Oval.