A valiant fourth-innings effort from England concluded at 342 all out on Thursday’s lunch session, establishing a 160-run target for Australia to claim victory in the final Ashes Test. The day’s play was headlined by Jacob Bethell’s magnificent 154, a career-defining maiden Test century that temporarily rekindled English hopes of squaring the series.
Resuming overnight at 302-8 with a lead of 119, England’s aspirations heavily relied on Bethell, who added 12 runs to his Wednesday total of 142. His resilient innings was eventually terminated by Mitchell Starc, with the young batsman edging a delivery to wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Bethell’s performance is being widely hailed as a promising glimpse into the future of English cricket.
Matthew Potts contributed a vital 18 runs before Josh Tongue (6) fell to Starc, wrapping up the English innings. Starc finished with figures of 3-72, while Beau Webster claimed 3-64.
Australia, having already retained the Ashes with victories in the first three Tests at Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide, now requires a manageable 160 runs to secure a series win. Their dominant first-innings total of 567, in response to England’s initial 384, positioned them favorably for this final chase. England’s recent two-day victory in Melbourne had offered a fleeting moment of optimism, which Australia now looks to extinguish.