NEW DELHI: England, under the leadership of Ben Stokes, finally broke their winless run on the tour with a dramatic four-wicket victory over Australia in the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
While the result came too late to alter the fate of the five-match series - with Australia already securing the Ashes - it helped England pull one back to make the scoreline 3-1.
England end 18-Test drought in Australia - full list of longest winless streaks
The Boxing Day Test turned out to be a whirlwind affair, wrapping up inside two days and producing a host of remarkable moments. The bowler-dominated contest not only kept fans on edge throughout but also saw multiple records being set and broken, adding to the intrigue of an already headline-grabbing encounter at the iconic MCG.
Crowd attendance
A crowd of 92,045 spectators turned up on Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, making it the second-highest attended day of cricket at the venue. The only day to draw a larger audience was the opening day of the Test, which attracted 94,199 fans.
Excruciating wait
England's triumph also ended a long drought Down Under. The win came after a gap of 5,468 days, marking their first Test victory in Australia since their success at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the 2010–11 Ashes series.
Carey's calendar-year feat
Australian wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey amassed 767 Test runs in the calendar year, marking the 12th-highest tally by a keeper-batter in a single year. It is also the best such performance since Sri Lanka's Niroshan Dickwella scored 773 runs in 2017.
A curious trend
England were bowled out in under 30 overs in their first innings, only the third time that has happened to them in Australia since 1904. Interestingly, when England have been dismissed inside 30 overs in a first innings - an occurrence that has happened just six times - they have still gone on to win four of those matches. Two such wins came in 2019, including the iconic Ashes Test at Headingley.
Tongue's elite strike rate
Josh Tongue boasts a strike rate of 28.1 from his two Tests in the series, the best by an England bowler in Australia (minimum 300 balls bowled), underlining his impact on the tour.
Starc's surpasses his best
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc has claimed 26 wickets in the ongoing Ashes, surpassing his previous best return of 24 wickets, which came during the 2016 series in Sri Lanka.
Two-day finishes
Australia has now witnessed four men's Test matches finish inside two days. The first such instance dates back to 1931 at the MCG, with the next coming 91 years later during the dramatic Australia vs South Africa clash in Brisbane in 2022. Remarkably, the ongoing Ashes series has added two more to that list, with Tests at Perth and Melbourne both ending within just two days.
