Australia drew with England – 5th Investec Test

England 377 and 5-206 (Kevin Pietersen 62, Jonathan Trott 59, Ryan Harris 2-21) drew with Australia 9-492 declared and 6-111 declared (Michael Clarke 28*, Shane Watson 26, Stuart Broad 4-43)

The sensational 5th Investec Test between England and Australia ended in a draw after the fifth day’s play when the bowlers from both sides grabbed 17 wickets.

Australia powered 492 runs for the loss of 9 wickets declared and 111 with four wickets remaining when Michael Clarke declared their second innings as well. England was bowled out for 377 in their first and scored 5-206 in the second innings.

Shane Watson (Australia) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his majestic innings of 176 runs in the first innings.

Ian Bell (England) and Ryan Harris (Australia) were declared ‘Players of the series’.

The fourth day of the match was completely washed out because of rain and the fifth and final Investec Test concluded on Sunday, August 25, 2013, at Kennington Oval, London.

Earlier, the hosts started their first innings at 4-274 runs in 116 overs whereas Ian Bell and Chris Woakes were unbeaten at 29 and 13 runs. The batsmen hit a couple of fours in the coming overs and took the score to 269 when Woakes was caught by Clarke off Ryan Harris for 25. Matt Prior came in next and hit two consecutive fours in the 126th over as Bell kept on creeping at his end. They added 30 runs to the total when Ian Bell was caught behind by Brad Haddin off James Faulkner for 45 off 143 balls with 5 fours.

Shane Watson - Player of the match
Shane Watson – Player of the match

Stuart Broad was clean bowled by Mitchell Starc as Graeme Swann appeared in the park next. The latter hit 10 runs in the 135th over with 2 fours and accumulated another 13 in the following one with 1 six and 1 four. Matt Prior was gone for 47 off 57 with 8 fours. Graeme Swann scored 34 quick fired runs from just 24 balls comprising 1 six and 5 fours as the innings of England was folded back for 377 in 144.4 overs.

James Faulkner was the most successful bowler with four wickets, Mitchell Starc held three, Ryan Harris got two and Nathan Lyon secured one wicket.

David Warner opened the second innings of the Kangaroos along with Shane Watson and they scored 15 runs in the first six overs. Watson punished James Anderson for 16 runs in the next one with 1 six and 2 fours while Warner became the first victim at 34 after contributing 12 runs. Watson followed him 10 runs later for 26 and Brad Haddin could not open his account as the Australian skipper, Michael Clarke, and James Faulkner tried to stabilise the innings.

Faulkner was caught behind by Matt Prior off Broad for 22 as the English bowlers came back in the game by picking the rival wickets regularly. Clarke was in the center for 28 when he declared the second innings at 6-111 after 23 overs.

Stuart Broad was the champion bowlers with four wickets whereas James Anderson and Graeme Swann registered one wicket each.

The Aussies set a target of 226 runs for the hosts to win the game with a possible 44 overs left in the day’s play. The captain of England, Alastair Cook and Joe Root took off nicely by scoring 22 runs in 4.5 overs when the latter was caught behind by Haddin off Ryan Harris for 11. Jonathan Trott associated next with Cook and they carried on marching towards their destination with continuous boundaries. The score was enhanced to 86 in 19.5 overs as Alastair Cook surrendered for 34 and was replaced by Kevin Pietersen who went off with 2 fours in the 22nd over.

Trott survived a review in the next one while Pietersen kept on charging at his end with smooth boundaries. Kevin Petersen dispatched 3 fours in the 28th over and rushed to his 33rd Test fifty in the following over. Jonathan Trott achieved his 18th Test half century in the 33rd over and Pietersen was finally caught superbly for 62 by Warner off Harris for 62 from just 55 deliveries with 10 fours. Trott walked back to the dressing room after scoring 59 off 87 with 6 fours as Ian Bell and Chris Woakes took the responsibility of chasing the target.

The home side went past the 200 runs mark in the 40th over while Bell ran himself out for 17 and the two umpires decided to call off the game because of the bad light. Woakes held his end for 17 and England scored 206 after losing half of their side in 40 overs.

Ryan Harris and James Faulkner were the only successful bowlers with two wickets each among the seven used by Clarke.

The fifth and final Investec Test finished in a dramatic draw whereas England won the five match series 3-0.

 


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