AUS vs ENG

So, that’s a wrap! The entertaining Ashes series comes to a close. We hope you had an awesome time tuning in to our coverage. Be sure to keep an eye on the upcoming fixtures on our platform for continued action. This is Datrim signing off on behalf of Pradeep and the entire commentary team from Sporskeeda. Bye for now and thank you for following us!

Steve Smith [Australia captain]: "(On how important to get a win in this final Test) Yeah, it was nice to finish on a high note. We know the importance of every Test match with the World Test Championships, so to get the result here and finish the series on a high was incredibly pleasing. I think it's been a really good week. I think it was a great weekend. They produced out here, had a bit of everything, so yeah, it was a good five days of cricket. Hard fought and nice to get over the line in the end. It felt like you had plenty of contributions from everyone right throughout the series. Yeah, it has been magnificent. I think everyone stood up at different times. The ones you mentioned before, Alex, Travis, and Starkey, were obviously huge standouts, but other guys stood up at different times throughout the series, and that's what makes a good team. Trusting each other, guys standing up in different scenarios and situations, and everyone did their job, so yeah, we're really proud of that. I guess experience counts for a lot in a series like this as well. Yeah, of course. It's obviously a big series. As an Australian and English cricketer, it's the pinnacle, and yeah, we've got an experienced side. We've played some really good cricket for the last four or five years, obviously making two World Test Championship finals, and yeah, we've got some guys in there that still want to keep getting better and improving, and yeah, it's just a great side to be a part of. (On Australia being a tough to beat at home) I think anyone at home plays better, I think, than away. We obviously know these conditions. We've grown up with them, and we're accustomed to them, so we know how to play on these surfaces, and yeah, we did it again this time around. (On Usman Khawaja) Yeah, he's had a wonderful career. It's been great to be alongside him for all of it. I played in his debut Test match here 15, 14 years ago, and he's just grown as a human and as a player, and yeah, it's been great to play alongside him for a long time, and he's certainly going to be missed in that dressing room. Thanks so much. I just want to say thanks again to England. It's been a great series. It's been good fun, and you guys are fierce competitors, so thanks for the memories, and it's been a great series."

Ben Stokes [England captain]: "It's been better, it's been worse. I won't know until I get home. It was a hard-fought test match all the way through. It was a great game to be involved in. Test matches that go to the fifth day and have a bit of drama there at the end is always something great to be a part of. I think we should have got 100 more and we allowed Australia to get 100 too many in their first innings with the bat. If you look at 200 runs on a fifth day there on that type of wicket, we would have been in the box seat. Not the series you would have wanted. (On Australia whether they outplayed them) I think there's a bit of both with it. I think Australia, an incredible team, they've played some incredible cricket. The individuals who stood up for them with the bat and obviously some outstanding performances there with the ball for them as well. You've got to give them a lot of credit as well, but also being pretty truthful to ourselves, knowing that we've done a little bit of damage ourselves. It is a tough one to take, knowing that we know that we can play a lot better than that. But I've got to give full credit to Steve, Pat and the Australian cricket team. They've just been incredible for five Test matches. (On lessons learnt in this Ashes series) Time for reflection properly is not right now. We've got a long time off before we play our next Test series. We've got some good time to go away and reflect on everything that not only we've looked at from this series, but even series before. Come June back in the UK when we have our first Test series after this one, hopefully we can put the wrongs right. It's a long series and you see quite a lot of players coming through throughout the series. (On players stepping up) Incredible. For Beth to wait for his opportunity towards the back end of the series, he put a lot of hard work and graft into his game. That knock that we witnessed there was just simply incredible for a 22-year-old lad to come out in the fifth Test of a massive series and a huge game to play in the way they did against a quality bowling attack. On a pretty difficult wicket, it was incredible to watch. Josh Tongue just keeps going from strength to strength. Every time he puts the shirt on and gets given the responsibility to go out there and play a game for England, he just keeps impressing. We've got some unbelievable talent to work with going forward. We've got six months off to the next one. Just last one on playing here in Australia. We've had some record crowds right the way throughout and another record attendance here at the SCG. (On Barmy Army) Absolutely everything. We always get asked about the support that we receive as England cricketers. We're so, so lucky and so thankful to wherever we go in the world that we have the Barmy Army and all the English supporters who come around and watch us and show us their support. They're going to be as disappointed as us about the way that this series has gone, but that should never ever take away the gratitude and the respect that we have as an England cricket team towards the fans who turn up day in, day out, regardless of how things are going for us. It definitely means a lot. Even sitting in there until the end for us, it's just so lucky that we get to represent this country, but also get to represent the Barmy Army and the fans. Thanks very much. Cheers."

Travis Head [Player of the Match]: "Pretty much special. There are a couple of good names out there. It's a tough place to bat here, but it certainly feels good once you get a go. Every hundred you get here is well cherished. Nice to finish the series with a hundred in the fifth test."

Alex Carey: "That's Ashes cricket for you, it went right till the end. There were a few nervous moments, no doubt — I’ll definitely owe Marnus a couple of beers tonight. Usman will be sorely missed; it’s been a brilliant career and a fitting way for him to sign off."

Usman Khawaja: "It means a great deal to me. A lot of effort and emotion went into it, and more than anything, all I wanted was the win — even more than scoring the finishing runs. Throughout the Test, I struggled to keep my emotions in check and found it difficult to stay fully focused at times. I’m incredibly thankful for the career I’ve had and feel nothing but gratitude. It got closer than we would’ve liked — you can never take anything for granted. But in the end, we managed to get the job done"

2:29 PM Local Time (8:59 AM IST): Australia win the fifth Ashes Test by 5 wickets

Travis Head - 164 (166) & 29 (35) | Mitchell Starc - 2/93 & 3/72
Jacob Bethell - 10 (23) & 154 (265) | Josh Tongue - 3/97 & 3/42

ALEX CAREY HAS DONE IT! AUSTRALIA WIN THE SCG TEST BY 5 WICKETS! A very satisfying end to the Ashes series from Australia! Despite defending 160, England gave Australia a good run for their money in the fifth Test. Nevertheless, it is Australia who have wrapped up the series 4-1. So much was said about the Tests not lasting more than 2 days. Not to mention the endless DRS drama, which caused a huge uproar within the cricketing community. Thankfully, such was not the case with the SCG Test, as we got to see 5 days of thrilling action. England offered some late spark towards the end to dent Australia in the fourth Test. But that was never going to be enough, as the series was already decided in Australia’s favor after the first three Tests. Australia get to retain the urn once again, and the painful drought continues to drag on for England since 2015.

Travis Head was Australia's standout performer. He rescued Australia from a tricky situation in the Perth Test and powered them to an unlikely win well inside 2 days. He came good with the bat even in the final test to ruin England's hopes of making it 3-2. Australia were without their key servicemen, including Pat Cummins and Hazlewood. Cummins was only available for the 4th Test but took no further part in the series since then. Despite missing their senior pros in the early part of the series, Australia managed to play to their full strength. Beau Webster's introduction in the last Test was truly a revelation. The tall all-rounder troubled the English batters with his uncanny length and awkward bounce and made a steady contribution of 71* lower down the order. The only minor weak link was Jake Weatherland, who managed just a shade over 200 runs in 5 Tests at an ordinary average of nearly 22.

On the other hand, England had their moments in this series. Time and again, they found themselves in favorable situations. But their tendency to falter in crunch moments proved to be disastrous. We certainly saw a glimpse of that in the first and the final Tests, where victory seemed to be in sight. The visitors had a lot of woes to contend with on this tour, especially with the bat. Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith walked in with a lot of expectations. However, they drew the ire of fans and cricketing pundits for executing their plans poorly with the bat. Shot selection was another major grey area for the English batters in this Ashes tour. Joe Root was the only silver lining for England in what turned out to be yet another disappointing tour for the Englishmen. The second-highest all-time Test run scorer had a stellar run, ending the Ashes tour on a high with 400 runs at a stunning average of 44 with 2 centuries to his name. Jacob Bethell is the only other English batter to shine apart from Root. His fighting century (154) came in a losing cause as England failed to muster a challenging fourth-innings target in the fifth and final Ashes Test.

31.2 Will Jacks to Alex Carey, FOUR! THAT'S IT! Australia seal the Ashes, 4-1! Australia capped off a dominant series with a commanding win in the fifth Test, sealing a comprehensive 4–1 triumph and underlining their complete control throughout the contest.

Length delivery outside the off-stump, Carey leans and driven it away, beats the diving short extra-cover and it runs away to the ropes as Australia seal the deal.

30.6 Brydon Carse to Cameron Green, FOUR MORE! That is well played by Green. Short outside the off-stump, Green waits and slashes it past backward point, that runs away again. Just one hit away now Australia.

30.5 Brydon Carse to Cameron Green, goes round the wicket. Banged in short, well directed. Green tries to duck under it, still hits him on the body in the end as it didn't bounce much.

30.4 Brydon Carse to Cameron Green, FOUR! Down to single figures now. Short outside the off-stump, Green cuts it hard, through point and races away to the ropes.

30.2 Brydon Carse to Alex Carey, back of a length into the pads. Carey clipped it away, but Duckett puts his left hand out and stops it at forward short leg.