Yet another Test match and yet another dominating performance by Australia. Leading 2-0 up in the series, the hosts needed just three days to beat England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by an innings and 14 runs to retain the Ashes on Tuesday morning. Starting the day on 31/4, Australia needed just a little more than 15 overs to bowl out England for 68 in the second innings. Scott Boland, who took two English wickets on Monday, added another four to his tally today to finish with figures 6/7 in just four overs to blow away the opposition on his debut. Mitchell Starc took three wickets. For England, they need to get back to the drawing board and do whatever they can to come back stronger in the final two Test matches. Earlier, Australia had won in Brisbane and Adelaide. Get here highlights of AUS vs ENG Boxing Day Test.
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7:23 AM IST: Players Speak
Pat Cummins (AUS): I am so proud of his group. We did everything right in all departments. I am pretty thrilled for Scott Boland who is playing in front of his home crowd and to finish with this kind of performance is so amazing.
Joe Root (ENG): All credit goes to Australia. They were on top yesterday and they outplayed us in this Test match. We have a lot of hard work to do now and come back strong in the last two games.
Scott Boland: Player of the match
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Nothing has happened so quickly before. I don't know what to say. I had no idea it would be over so soon. Standing near the boundary gave me the real buzz.
7:17 AM IST: Australia win
Scott Boland takes a five-wicket haul on his Test debut to help Australia bundle out England for just 68 on Tuesday morning and win the game by an innings and 14 runs. Australia win the series 3-0 and retain the Ashes. Out of six wickets that fell on the day, Boland took four of them while Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green picked the rest.
Day 3 Preview
England are in a massive spot of bother at MCG. They have lost 14 wickets in a space of 65.1 plus 12 overs in the second innings so far. In the middle are two men who face a Herculean task to save this Test and keep the Ashes alive. With Ben Stokes and Joe Root at the crease, England still require another 51 runs to make Australia bat again.
For the second straight day, bowlers on either side have dominated the match. First, England seamer James Anderson bagged the key wickets of Marcus Harris (76) and Steve Smith (16) in his tally of 4 for 33 off 23 overs. This helped England bowl out Australia for 267 and take a lead of 82 runs. It could have been more if not not for Anderson.
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But Anderson's good work was blown away as Mitchell Starc (2 for 11) dismissed Zak Crawley, caught behind for 5, and Dawid Malan, leg before without scoring, in consecutive deliveries.
Aussie debutant Scott Boland (2 wickets for 1 run) delighted his home crowd of 42,626 roaring fans by removing opener Haseeb Hameed for 7 and Jack Leach without scoring in the penultimate over of the day. Australia are all set to go for the kill.
