ESPNcricinfo
Scott Boland’s six-wicket haul on his Test debut allowed Australia to wrap up the Ashes 3-0, by lunch on the third day at the MCG.
Australia’s quicks continued their demolition job on England, with Boland adding to his two wickets from three balls during a devastating final hour on the second day, with four more on the third morning to seal an innings victory as the hosts retained the urn.
Boland took six wickets in 21 balls in all while Mitchell Starc, who had a big hand in reducing England to 31 for 4 in a cauldron-like atmosphere on day two, added the wicket of Ben Stokes inside the first 25 minutes of the resumption, to end with 3 for 29.
Pat Cummins, whose pressure was instrumental in keeping England’s beleaguered batters under Australia’s thumb, went unrewarded in England’s second innings, having helped restrict them to a first-innings total of 185 when he and Nathan Lyon claimed three wickets apiece.
But the day – as short as it was – belonged to Boland, who was selected as an MCG specialist after his performances for Victoria and who became the fourth Indigenous Australian to play Test cricket. After taking 1 for 48 in England’s first innings, he was simply unplayable for a side with its confidence beaten and its batting in disarray. In a historic moment, Boland won the Mullagh Medal as Player of the Match, named after Johnny Mullagh, who toured England as part of the Australian Aboriginal team in 1868.
With players from both sides cleared to resume after returning negative tests following a Covid scare the previous morning, England’s task always looked insurmountable, even with Stokes and Joe Root still in. But the emphatic way in which Australia rammed home their advantage consigned England to new lows, their 68 all-out the lowest Ashes total in Australia since 1936 and England’s lowest total in Australia since 1904.
Summarized scores: Australia 267 (Harris 76, Anderson 4-33) beat England 185 (Root 50, Cummins 3-36, Lyon 3-36) and 68 (Boland 6-7, Starc 3-29) by an innings and 14 runs
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