England started Day 4 with their strong overnight score of 220/2. Captain Joe Root and top-order batter Dawid Malan looked to be the saviours for the tourists for the third day of the match.
However, the duo only added three runs to the English total before Nathan Lyon ended his 326-day wait for a 400th Test wicket by dismissing Malan for 82. Soon, skipper Root was undone by Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green for 89 to damage the visitors further.
As Malan and Root fell in quick successions, it opened the flood gates as the English side lost their seven wickets for 77 runs to get bundled out for 297, giving Australia a paltry target of 20 runs to win the contest.
Lyon, who took Malan’s wicket to claim his 400th, sent back Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood to complete his four-wicket haul in the second innings. Apart from Lyon, captain Pat Cummins (2/51) and Green (2/23) picked up two wickets each, while Mitchell Starc (1/77) and Josh Hazlewood (1/32) bagged one wicket apiece. In their chase, Australia lost Alex Carey (9) before the home team scored 20 to win the match by nine wickets.
Earlier, Cummins took his first fifer in Ashes to help Australia bowl out England for 147 in the first innings before making a humungous 425 in response. In the first essay, Travis Head shined with the bat, scoring a brilliant 152 off just 148 deliveries to help his side reach a big total. Apart from Head opening batter David Warner, who was not seen on the field on Day 3 and 4 and couldn’t come to bat in the second innings due to his rib injury, scored 94 runs to mark his return in the longest format.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
A huge congratulations to Nathan Lyon on his 400th test wicket today at the #GABBA. He’s been a terrific bowler for a while now. Let’s hope there’s plenty more wickets to come @FoxCricket
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) December 11, 2021
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