England came into the final day with 10 wickets in hand and there were quiet whispers which suggested that the side might thwart the Australian threat on a weary pitch. The murmurs remained confined to murmurs and slowly withered away as Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins sliced through the England batting as the hosts literally sleepwalked to a defeat by 251 runs.
The architect of the win was Steve Smith and he walked away with the man of the match trophy for slamming centuries in both the innings. It was redemption for the former skipper after the ban which was slapped on him by Cricket Australia.
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However, after the match, David Warner looked far more relaxed. The opener did not have a memorable match with the bat, but he enjoyed the win with his family and daughters and this moment was snapped by the International Cricket Council.
Australian captain Tim Paine spoke after the match and lauded the efforts his side post the comprehensive win. “I wouldn’t say surprised, thought we were up against it at on stage but we had the best player in the world at the crease. We were excellent the second innings, bat and ball. [Smith] Running out of things to say about him, probably the best Test match performance we’ve seen. Wadey I’ve seen up close at Tasmania for the last couple of years, he’s in form and a really good place. [Lyon?] Always hard to come to a Test match on day five, with the pressure on your shoulders. But we put pressure on the other end as well, Nathan took the spoils but we shared it around. This morning, our bowling was sensational. [Atmosphere] Didn’t matter where it was, we know the crowd’s going to be against us. The guys handled themselves well, and stuck to their guns,” Paine said.
{{/usCountry}}Australian captain Tim Paine spoke after the match and lauded the efforts his side post the comprehensive win. “I wouldn’t say surprised, thought we were up against it at on stage but we had the best player in the world at the crease. We were excellent the second innings, bat and ball. [Smith] Running out of things to say about him, probably the best Test match performance we’ve seen. Wadey I’ve seen up close at Tasmania for the last couple of years, he’s in form and a really good place. [Lyon?] Always hard to come to a Test match on day five, with the pressure on your shoulders. But we put pressure on the other end as well, Nathan took the spoils but we shared it around. This morning, our bowling was sensational. [Atmosphere] Didn’t matter where it was, we know the crowd’s going to be against us. The guys handled themselves well, and stuck to their guns,” Paine said.
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