5th Test: England v Australia at The Oval, 23-27 Aug 2001 CricInfo Live Report

5th Test: England v Australia at The Oval, 23-27 Aug 2001
Kate Laven

England 2nd innings: Day Five: Mid-morning, Day Five: Lunch, Day Five: Mid-afternoon, Australia won by an innings and 25 runs,
Live Reports from previous days

AUSTRALIA COMPLETE INNINGS VICTORY TO TAKE THE SERIES 4-1

Australia ended their triumphant Ashes summer with a convincing win over England at the AMP Oval today by an innings and 25 runs to record a resounding 4-1 series victory.

With thousands of supporters turning up to watch England try and stave off defeat, a near capacity crowd watched Australia's bowlers snaffle up the four wickets required for victory, with Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne again posing the biggest challenges for the Englishmen.

McGrath picked up the last duo of Jimmy Ormond and Phil Tufnell to finish with 5-43 and topped the bowling for the series with 32 wickets. His leg-spinning partner took a remarkable 11 wickets in the match - the first time, surprisingly, he has taken ten wickets or more in a Test outside Australia. He ended the series just one wicket behind McGrath with 31 wickets, this last match producing 11-229.

The ninth wicket partnership between Darren Gough and Jimmy Ormond survived 19 overs and put on 58 runs including some powerfully struck drives from the Yorkshireman who produced his best score since he made a half-century against Australia at Sydney in 1995, 49 Test matches ago.

It was an entertaining stand, which kept the crowd enraptured and postponed the Australian's victory celebrations. But after playing with defiance in his first Test, Ormond, who was growing in confidence, edged the ball behind to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.

His place was taken by Tufnell, who received a standing ovation and some enthusiastic applause but the Middlesex spinner faced one bouncer from McGrath and was then caught by Warne at first slip with the next delivery to complete what had been inevitable from early on in the day.

The last wicket fell at 3.32pm and it brought to an end an excellent npower Ashes series, which proved to be an uneven contest between a developing side and what could go down in history as the finest cricket team ever.

GOUGH AND ORMOND DELAY AUSTRALIA

Tailenders Darren Gough and James Ormond made a last ditched attempt to shore up defences at the AMP Oval this afternoon after England lost two more wickets following lunch.

They came together when Andrew Caddick was bowled by Brett Lee for 17 which reduced England to 126 for eight but an hour into the afternoon session, they had put on 19 for the ninth wicket, taking the score to 145, still 64 behind Australia's first innings total of 641.

Shane Warne added to his match haul when Alec Stewart, who had earlier raised England's hopes of batting out the day in a promising sixth wicket partnership with Mark Ramprakash, tried to fend a delivery away, the ball hitting his pad and skimming through to clip the top of his off stump.

Stewart was fined 20% of his match fee in the first innings for standing his ground after being given out but this time there was no delay and Stewart returned to the pavilion with another 34 Test runs under his belt. Unlike Mike Atherton yesterday, he did not raise his bat as he left the field suggesting that he intends to continue his career.

England were 126 for seven at the end of the 49th over but Lee struck with the next ball by bowling Caddick for 17 with a yorker that dislodged his leg stump.

WARNE TAKES AUSTRALIA WITHIN SIGHT OF 4-1 ASHES TRIUMPH

Shane Warne grabbed three wickets on the last morning of the npower Ashes summer today bringing his match tally to ten to heap more misery on England's beleaguered batsmen.

England collapsed from their overnight total of 40 for one to a disappointing 118 for six at lunch. Alec Stewart continued to do battle in front of his home crowd, which after two hours play had filled to near capacity, and was unbeaten on 33 after the morning session, having faced 48 balls.

Andrew Caddick was 10 not out but as Steve Waugh had predicted when he won the toss on Thursday, Warne was England's main destroyer with match figures so far of 10-212, including 3-47 in the second innings.

Stewart's partnership with Surrey colleague Mark Ramprakash, the hero of the first innings, had raised hopes, briefly, of making the innings last into the final evening. With the close field crowded around the bat during Warne's spell-binding session, the batsmen were under severe pressure especially after seeing four wickets fall for 58 runs in the previous hour.

Ramprakash survived a long and insistent appeal from Warne for a catch at silly point, which was turned down by umpire Rudi Koertzen confirmed as unfounded by television replays, which showed the ball came off the forearm.

Having made 133 in his first innings, Ramprakash had looked at ease but the appeal unsettled him and having added another four to his total to make 19, he edged Warne to first slip where Matthew Hayden took a catch at knee height.

The sixth wicket pair had added 40 runs but England needed bigger contributions all round to stave off the prospect of the defeat that would make it 4-1 to Australia.

ENGLAND COLLAPSE AS AUSTRALIA PRESS FOR VICTORY AT THE OVAL

England were heading for defeat at The AMP Oval after the loss of four quick wickets on the final morning of the last npower Ashes Test match.

After a frustrating fourth day in which only 21.3 overs were possible due to persistent rain and drizzle, the two sides were greeted by sunny blue skies and fresher temperatures but also by a disappointing crowd, the ground just half full.

Resuming on 40 for one and needing another 169 runs to make Australia bat again, the morning started disastrously for England when Mark Butcher was caught at silly point off the bowling of Shane Warne, just 10 minutes into the day's play.

Nine balls later, having been dropped in the slips the previous ball, Marcus Trescothick received an unplayable ball from Glenn McGrath that lifted viciously and flew high off his gloves to land in the bowler's hands. He had faced 43 balls for 24 but his wicket landed England in deep trouble on 48 for three.

Captain Nasser Hussain, who played such a gutsy innings first time round, found himself facing the umpire's raised finger after just seven balls when a ball from Warne thudded into his pads to prompt an instant decision. It was Warne's ninth wicket in the match and his 405th overall, bringing him level with West Indies' fast bowler Curtly Ambrose.

The score was 50 for four and England's valiant efforts to save the match were looking doomed though first innings heroes Mark Ramprakash and Usman Afzaal continued to do battle until the Nottinghamshire left-hander attempted to drive at McGrath and edged the ball to Ricky Ponting in the slips, after making five.

After an hour's play, England were 55 for five and facing a heavy defeat.