England give a great farewell to Stuart Broad as they draw the series 2-2

The 5th Test match of Ashes 2023 between England and Australia was played at the Oval. Australia won the toss and chose to bowl. England got a steady start to their innings getting an opening partnership of 62 runs. Ben Duckett played well for his 41. In the very next over, Pat Cummins got rid of Zak Crawley.

In quick time, England lost both their openers. In the next 3 overs, Josh Hazelwood got the important wicket of Joe Root. Harry Brook was dropped on 5 by Alex Carey. Moeen Ali and Harry Brook had a 111-run partnership and came in quick time. Mitchell Starc came back and took the crucial scalp of the skipper Ben Stokes.

Jonny Bairstow also couldn’t go big as he was dismissed early by Josh Hazelwood. Harry Brook’s drop proved costly for Australia as he made 85 runs. It was a good show from Harry Brook as he stood at one end when wickets were falling at the other end. Mark Wood and Chris Woakes got a 49-run partnership which pushed England’s total. This partnership was broken by Tod Murphy. Australia got the next 2 wickets in a few overs to get England all out for 283.

Australia started really well seeing through the new ball well. They also didn’t let the run rate down as they maintained a run rate close to 3 runs. They got an opening partnership of 49 runs before losing David Warner. Australia finished their day on 61/1. It was quite an eventful day. Australia had a great start to the day as Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja batted for the next 17 overs before Mark Wood dismissed Labuschagne. It was great and disciplined bowling from the English bowlers. Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja hit some boundaries to keep the scorecard ticking.

Post lunch, in the very first over, Stuart Broad dismissed Usman Khawaja for a well-played 47. In his very next over, Broad also got the wicket of Travis Head. Mitch Marsh couldn’t get going as he was dismissed by Jimmy Anderson. England bowled well and didn’t concede runs easily. This put pressure and eventually Alex Carey was dismissed.

It was Steve Smith who was fighting at one end with wickets falling at the other end. It was a 54-run partnership between Steve Smith and Pat Cummins that bought Australia back into the game. Steve Smith played a great knock of 71 considering the circumstances. Todd Murphy and Pat Cummins batted aggressively to get a 49 run partnership. Chris Woakes dismissed Pat Cummins to end the Australian innings, as they finished on 295 and took a lead by 12 runs.

England had a great start to their innings by getting an opening partnership of 79 runs. Zak Crawley and skipper Ben Stokes and Zak Crawley had a partnership of 61 runs which maintained the tempo in the innings. In the meanwhile, Zak Crawley got to his 50 and made 73 runs to his name. Ben Stokes and Joe Root had a partnership of 73 runs with Joe Root playing the role of the aggressor. Todd Murphy provided the breakthrough for Australia by dismissing the England skipper Ben Stokes.

In the very next over, one bought two for Australia as Harry Brook also lost his wicket. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root put on a solid partnership of 110 runs. In fact, Bairstow proved to be a solid contributor in this partnership. Joe Root played a great knock of 91 runs at a good strike rate. It was a great display of batting from him and put his team in a great position. Todd Murphy proved to be the man with the golden arm getting the wickets of the set batters.

Jonny Bairstow lost his wicket to Mitchell Starc for a well made 78 bringing a great series with the bat to an end. The Australian bowlers wrapped up the lower order quickly as England finished the day on 389/9. Later that day, Stuart Broad announced his retirement from cricket after the ongoing Ashes. At the start of Day 4, England were bowled out for 395. England set a target of 384.

Chasing 384, Australia got to a dream start of 135/0 with both the openers getting to their half centuries before rain interrupted play. Play was abandoned on day 4 post the rain interruption. England got a great start to day 5, dismissing David Warner in the initial overs. Chris Woakes came back to dismiss the other set batter Usman Khawaja. Marnus Labuschagne couldn’t get going as he was dismissed early and suddenly Australia found themselves at 169/3.

Steve Smith and Travis Head were batting steadily at 238/3 before there was a rain interruption. Nearly after 2.5 hours play resumed. Travis Head was dismissed by Moeen Ali after a good partnership. Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc fell prey in successive overs as Australia were pushed to 275/7.

Alex Carey and Pat Cummins tried to get a partnership but eventually the skipper Pat Cummins lost his wicket. Alex Carey and Todd Murphy gave Australia a glimmer of hope by getting a partnership of 35 runs before Stuart Broad erased their hopes. Stuart Broad got a dream end to his career as he got the final wicket and helped England win the match by 49 runs and draw the series 2-2. Although the series is drawn, Australia retain the Ashes.