‘Bazball khali choti teams ke saamne he theek tha’ – Fans react as Australia retain Ashes urn after rain plays spolisport during fourth Test

The fifth day of the fourth Ashes Test involving England and Australia at Old Trafford was completely washed out due to rain. This draw means that Australia will retain the urn and will be taking it back home with them. In review, the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, weather predictions for the final two days of the fourth Test proved to be accurate. On Day 4, only 30 overs could be completed.

Marnus Labuschagne, Australia’s number three was clutch at the right time as he scored an invaluable century and Mitchell Marsh played out most of those overs in an ‘unBazball-like’ manner. Labuschagne was dismissed at the very end of the day’s action only after reaching an outstanding century. 

Australia finished the test on 214/5, with Cameron Green on 3* along with Mitchell Marsh who had scored 31*. At that point, they were still behind by 61 runs and on day five, England would have believed they might force a favourable outcome.

England’s celebrations were ruined by the rain, which persisted for the whole of the day and forced the umpires and match officials to call off the play. Given that the game was a draw, Australia now leads the series 2-1 and have a major chance of winning a series in England after a long haul. 

Having a break leading up to the series was helpful: Pat Cummins

Australia’s skipper Pat Cummins spoke after retaining the Ashes urn in Manchester and discussed the team’s intentions before the game. He said, “Preference was to come here and win the Ashes but happy to have retained it for now. Doesn’t change how we look at the final Test at the Oval. We have had a pretty similar group for the last two years and we were really motivated coming out here. I thought they batted very well.”

The right-arm fast bowler added on how breaks were important for the side in a five-match series and their plans throughout the first four games. He said, “We tried a few different plans which didn’t come out well. We will hopefully be better for next week but they were fantastic. Feel pretty good actually, having a break leading up to the series was helpful.”

Fans react as Australia retain Ashes urn after rain plays spoilsport during fourth Test: