(Cricket news) The Ashes series have always brought the best out of batters and bowlers. The 4th Test at Sydney was just another example of how the series has shaped career defining moments for the England and Australian players. Australia had already won the series when they defeated England in the previous three matches, England did not want to repeat the 2013/ 2014 case where they lost all the matches in Australia.

Australia had raised the standards of batting in both the innings of the Test as England bowlers had to toil hard to get a breakthrough. Usman Khawaja hit hundreds in both the innings to sink the hopes of the Englishmen who were in dire need of a win. Khawaja stood for almost 400 balls in the match which clearly helped the side to establish a heavy lead.

Stuart Broad was leading the bowling attack with five wickets including the wicket of Khawaja and James Anderson chipped in with an economical spell. The England side was reduced to 36-4 in 20 overs as Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow pulled the team back into the game, Bairstow hit 113 of 158 balls as the team put 294 runs on board.

The Australian batters again put up a solid stand on the crease as they declared at 265, setting up a target of 388. Joe Root had time to lead his men to victory as the batters tread slowly in the chase, Scott Boland continued his attack as he gave the first breakthrough in the 20th over. The batters did not look for runs as they played on the backfoot and kept defending the ball, it started working as the hosts tried 7 bowlers from the team. Even Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne came into the bowling attack as Smith got a wicket but they could cause full damage.

Pat Cummins had few outrageous inswingers which showed how much the team wanted to win the match. At the same time, Stokes alongside Bairstow stood for over 200 balls which lifted their hopes. Smith took the wicket of Jack Leach in the 100th over and also bowled the final over to James Anderson who kept the guard to disappoint thousands of fans at Sydney.

The last over saw one of the finest batters bowl to one of the finest bowlers. It was a reminder that the responsibilities change in the game and the players are demanded to excel as and when needed. The England side stood defiant, it had lost the last three matches but it was not ready to lose this one and this Test was definitely the best in the series.

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