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Australia retained the Ashes with two tests to spare after paceman Mitchell Starc took three of the last four wickets to blunt England's defiant comeback in the third cricket test. Australia started Day 5 needing four wickets to retain the Ashes, with England resuming at 6-207 and still 228 runs away from the victory target of 435 that would have required a world record to achieve. Starc took the only wicket in the morning session Jamie Smith for 60 as England piled on 102 runs. England's rally had narrowed the Ashes equation at lunch on the last day: Australia needed three wickets to clinch the old urn in Adelaide and England needed 126 runs to keep the five-match series alive. With England's lower-order doggedly mounting pressure and Australia's attack missing veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, who limped off the field with an injured hamstring, the leading bowler in the series delivered for the hosts. Starc was voted player of the match in Australia's eight-wicket wins in Perth and
Nathan Lyon severely dented England's desperate Ashes survival bid with three quick blows: vice-captain Harry Brook, bowled; captain Ben Stokes, bowled; leading scorer Zak Crawley, stumped. Just as England was starting to gain confidence Saturday chasing what needed to be a world-record 435 to keep the Ashes series alive, Lyon returned to the Australian attack. Crawley (85) and Brook (30) had combined in a 68-run stand to revive England's innings from 109-3 to 177-3 after Australia skipper Pat Cummins took out the top order. Then Lyon, who moved to No. 2 on Australia's all-time list of wicket-takers in the first innings, started a new spell in the evening session. On his second ball Lyon dismissed a cavalier Brook, who reached too far and completely missed an extravagant reverse sweep. The 38-year-old spinner quickly took three wickets for eight runs in a sequence that ripped through the middle order and suddenly England was 194-6. Stokes, England's totemic leader, was out trying
India on Friday slipped a rung to sixth position on the World Test Championship standings after New Zealand's comprehensive nine-wicket victory against the West Indies in Wellington propelled them to the third place. Runners-up in the first two WTC cycles, India were placed fifth after they were blanked 2-0 by South Africa at home last month with New Zealand occupying the sixth position. However, the table saw a major turnaround after the Kiwis' big win in the second Test at Basin Reverse on Friday. Former champions Australia continue to hold the top position with 100 percentage points (win-loss percentage) with South Africa in second place with 75 percentage points. Sri Lanka (66.67) and Pakistan (50) occupy the fourth and fifth position respectively. New Zealand have so far accumulated 66.67 percentage points, while India have a win-loss percentage of 48.15. India can drop further down to seventh if England stage a comeback against Australia in the Ashes. The Aussies lead the se
Australia's stand-in skipper Steve Smith tried to douse the controversy over the exclusion of Nathan Lyon for the second Ashes Test in Brisbane, saying that the decision was taken to strengthen the batting order and there wasn't anything personal against the spin bowling stalwart. Lyon had described his mood as "absolutely filthy" after he was dropped by Australia for the first time in 13 years in a home Test. Australia's chairman of selectors, George Bailey, had described the exclusion as a "one-Test decision" and guaranteed the 38-year-old spinner a place in the XI for the third Test in Adelaide. "It could have gone a few different ways, and it's certainly nothing against Nathan. He's a freak," Smith was quoted as saying post-match by Fox Sports. Australia defeated the Ben Stokes-led England by eight wickets in the Brisbane Test on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead int he five-match series. "He's (Lyon) been our spinner for such a long time, but the extra batting and the way the tail hun