In the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney, Jacob Bethell scored a sublime maiden first-class century, giving hope for England’s fightback, but a late wobble on the fourth night saw the tourists fall eight wickets down to a 119-run lead.
Bethel, just 22 years old and playing just his sixth Test, proved exactly why he was selected for England just over a year ago, despite missing a professional hundred at the time, finishing the day unbeaten on 142 and cementing his troublesome third spot.
After Australia were bowled out for 567 in the first innings, giving them a 183-run lead, Bethel helped England overturn that with sizeable partnerships of 81 and 102 with Ben Duckett (42) and Harry Brook (42) respectively.
Bethel brought in his first Test ton from 162 deliveries in some style, skipping down the pitch to pick up Beau Webster’s off-spin delivery and smashing four to deep midwicket in fearless fashion.
But Webster (3-51) delivered perhaps the decisive blow in Tests in the next over, dismissing Brook and Will Jacks between three deliveries to suddenly find England five points down, with the lead at 36.
Beau Webster celebrates double in come-from-behind win over Harry Brook and Will Jacks
Jacks’ dismissal was reckless, holing out deep for a wild hack over the line, while Jamie Smith (26) suffered a disastrous run-out late in the evening session.
Ben Stokes (1), who was limping, had only one RBI and five throws when he took the stand, but the England captain had injured his groin during morning practice.
England captain Ben Stokes limped off the field with a groin injury on the fourth day of the final Ashes Test.
Brydon Kearse, 16, also fell late in the day as England’s lead crossed 100, but Bethel remained and will head into the fifth morning chasing a crucial run at the back to set Australia a competitive target in the final Test of this series.
Australia resumed play on the fourth morning at 518-7 in their first innings, adding 49 runs to their tally for the night before being bowled out. Steve Smith, who started first, took a beautiful score off Josh Tan (3 for 87) and finished with an impressive 138 points.
Tan also cleaned up Mitchell Starc (fifth inning) brilliantly, leaving Webster stranded unbeaten on 71 before the Jacks called Scott Borland for a duck to end the next innings.
England could not have gotten off to a worse start in the bottom of their second innings, when the Australian left-arm quick took his 29th wicket of the series, leaving the fifth ball, out pound, when Zak Crawley (1) gave no shot to the devastating Starc inswinger.
Visitors would have feared the worst, but Mr. Duckett and Mr. Bethel calmed their nervous nerves by quietly adding 76 items by lunch.
After the interval before Duckett departed, their partnership was up to 81 points. Michael Nether threw the ball from the inside edge as he tried to cut through Duckett, who was overextending himself.
Joe Root, who had just made an astonishing 160 balls in his first innings, found the second to be much tougher, particularly mired in a quagmire against the relentlessly accurate Boland, making an uncharacteristically only 6 from 37 balls before falling to the seamers.
Brooke proved to be another positive foil as Bethel racked up a rich century, with the duo scoring over 100 to give England the lead and briefly give Australia some hope of catching up with a tough score in the second innings.
However, Webster’s double of Brook and Jacks in the same over completely changed the state of play that day and England’s prospects of ending the series with consecutive wins.
At the end of the day, five wickets had fallen for 78 runs in 20 overs, which saw England back on the ropes. Bethel will remain, but he will be responsible for his role in Smith’s downfall.
Guilty of ball-watching when he pulled Marcus Labuschagne’s short ball behind the square, he moved Smith back to the non-striker’s end too late, his partner already stranded halfway down the pitch and run out.
There was no series-ending heroics with Stokes’ bat, largely limited by injury, while Kearse hit several boundaries to help England cross the 100-run mark before disappearing in the second half.
Nasser: Bethel’s calmness is ‘extraordinary’
Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain said:
“It was a proper No. 3 innings, calm, collected and technically sound.
“For a 22-year-old, his composure was exceptional. And his first 100 Tests, and of course his first 100 Ashes, were great moments spent with his mum and dad here at the SCG, one of the great cricket grounds in the world.”
“His mother was all smiles, but his father was struggling to hold back tears. It was a really special occasion.”
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