STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsThe stage was set for a classic showdown as England and Australia set foot for the final Test match in this riveting series at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
While the venue has hosted 13 Test matches to date, this game is indeed a special one for Hobart as this is the first time an Ashes Test was played at the ground.
After a dominant performance in the first three matches of the series, Australia ensured the Urn is safely guarded on the home soil. On the other hand, England could take some solace from their performance in the last Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The visiting side negated 612 deliveries in the fourth innings to ensure a draw and avoid a whitewash.
With a plethora of injuries and lack of form, England made five changes to their playing XI and handed a Test debut to Sam Billings. Plying his trade in the Big Bash League, Billing was asked to join the squad after injuries to Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow.
Minutes before a delayed toss, James Anderson presented the wicket-keeper batter with his debut cap, making him the 700th player to don the Three Lions' jersey in the longest format of the game. The 30-year old is the first wicket-keeper to debut in a pink-ball Test.
With overcast condition on offer, Joe Root won the toss and elected to field first. The move seemed to have paid massive dividends as the home side were tottering at 12 for the loss of three wickets in the first ten overs.
However, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head consolidated the innings and forged a crucial 71-run stand for the fourth wicket before Labuschagne was dismissed in a bizarre fashion for an attacking 44 off 53 balls with nine boundaries.
Despite the stutter, Head continued to keep the scoreboard ticking and notched up his second hundred of the series to help Australia end the first day in a commanding fashion with 241 runs on the board.
En route to his scintillating hundred off 112 deliveries studded with 12 boundaries, the southpaw stitched a 121-run partnership for the fifth wicket along with Cameron Green to lay a solid foundation for the home side in the first innings.
The right-handed batter continued his impressive run from the last innings and scored a successive half-century to help Australia crawl to safety.
Warner's dismal performance with the bat
One of the mainstays in Australia's batting unit, David Warner, has been in sublime form in this series and amassed 273 runs in seven innings at an average of 39. However, with the conditions conducive for swing bowling, the southpaw endured a struggle in his 22-ball duck.
The 35-year old looked entirely out of sorts in his short stay at the crease before finally edging one to Zak Crawley at second slip without troubling the scorers.
Warner recorded his fifth Ashes duck and created an unwanted record as this 22-ball duck is the most balls faced by a batter for a duck in the Ashes Test in this century. In 2007 at the SCG, Monty Panesar was dismissed for zero after facing 19 deliveries, which is the second-most number of balls faced by a player before getting out for no score.
Steve Smith's rare failure
While Australia were jolted with twin blows early in the innings, their premier batter Steve Smith was dismissed for a second-ball duck resulting in the home side reeling at 12 for three in 9.5 overs.
This was only the second instance of the 32-year old failing to get off the mark against England in an innings. The last time Smith was dismissed for a duck was in the second innings of the Brisbane Test in November 2013.
Labuschagne's counter-attacking innings
The number one batter in the ICC ranking, Labuschagne has a fairytale start to his international career. In 39 innings, the right-handed batter has scored 2215 runs at an average of 58.29 in Test matches.
En route to his knock of 44 runs, the 27-year old became only the third player to smash 500 runs in Day-Night fixtures. Labuschagne is second on the list with 533 runs in seven innings, followed by David Warner with 596 runs in 12 innings.
