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