Stuart Broad celebrates after picking his final Test wicket.© AFP
England beat Australia by 49 runs to win the fifth Test at The Oval on Monday and end the Ashes series all square at 2-2. Australia, chasing 384 to win, collapsed from 264-3 to 334 all out, with England’s retiring paceman Stuart Broad taking the final wicket. England did the bulk of the damage when, after a rain break of more than two hours, they took four Australia wickets for 11 runs in 19 balls. Off-spinner Moeen Ali took three wickets on his way to innings figures of 3-76 and all-rounder Chris Woakes ended with 4-50.
Broad, England’s all-time leading Ashes bowler, then polished off the tail. Australia, as the holders, had already retained the Ashes but they remain without an Ashes series win in England since 2001.
“It was absolutely wonderful,” Broad told Sky Sports. “I thought Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali set the tone absolutely unbelievably.
“Woakesy picked up a couple of wickets, particularly Steve Smith, who has just been a wonderful player to play against all these years.
“Once we got a couple we really started to believe. The crowd were unbelievable. It was so loud and we just jumped on the back of that. To contribute to the team with two wickets is very special.
“When you make that decision you wonder what your last ball will be so to take a wicket to win an Ashes Test match is pretty cool.”
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