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Smith’s glorious return, Archer’s rise and more: Ashes 2019 top moments

With James Anderson out with an injury, England picked World Cup-winning hero Jofra Archer in the playing XI. The right-arm pacer made an immediate impact, scalping five wickets on Test debut. However, what caught everyone’s eye was his bouncer felling Smith in the first innings. The Australian was hit on the back of his head… Continue reading Smith’s glorious return, Archer’s rise and more: Ashes 2019 top moments


With James Anderson out with an injury, England picked World Cup-winning hero Jofra Archer in the playing XI. The right-arm pacer made an immediate impact, scalping five wickets on Test debut. However, what caught everyone’s eye was his bouncer felling Smith in the first innings. The Australian was hit on the back of his head and had to be taken off the field. While he came out to bat in the first innings, he did not bat in the second innings and did not play the third Test. ©AFP


If Smith was enjoying a dream return, Warner’s comeback was more of a nightmare. The Australian opener was Stuart Broad’s bunny, getting dismissed for 7 innings out ten across five Tests. Such was Broad’s impact that Warner suffered a hat-trick of ducks. At the end of the series, the Broad vs Warner stats read: 104 balls, 35 runs and 7 wickets. ©AFP


Joe Root and Joe Denly had revived England’s hopes on the third day with a 126-run stand in the chase of 359. But what Stokes did was phenomenal to say the least. While he was watchful, if not slow for a few, at the start of the innings, he pulled off an absolute heist. England were reduced to 286/9, needing 73 runs more for the win and Stokes, who had a month ago led England to a World Cup win, with Jack Leach for the company, chased down the target as England, with their backs to the wall, levelled the Ashes 1-1. ©Twitter/Cricket.Com.Au


If his first Test showed that he belonged in the longest format of the game, Archer ran through the Australian batting line-up in Leeds, scalping six wickets as England bowled out Australia for 179 in the first innings. If Archer dominated the first day of the third Test, it was the Josh Hazlewood show on the second day. The right-arm pacer completed a five-wicket haul as Australia took 112-run lead, dismissing England for 67. ©Twitter/Cricket.Com.Au


As Australia rotated, rested and rotated among Josh Hazlewood, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc, one man remained constant – Pat Cummins. The right-arm pacer played all the five Tests, bowled 211 overs – most for any pacer across both the team and second only Nathan Lyon – and was the highest wicket-taker of Ashes 2019 with 29 scalps against his name. ©Twitter/Cricket Com Au


With Smith being ruled out of the second innings of the second Test at Lord’s, Marnus Labuschagne became the first concussion substitute since the introduction of the new ICC rule. While the circumstances were demanding as England were smelling blood on the final day of the Ashes Test, the right-hander made a solid start, scoring a gritty fifty. ©Twitter/Cricket.Com.Au


The words flew thick and fast ahead of the Smith’s return from injury. But that did not bother him or his form. The Australian scored a double hundred in the first innings of the Old Trafford Test and then followed it up with 82 in the second innings to power Australia to a thumping 185-run win, helping them to retain the urn. ©AFP


Making a comeback to Test cricket after his suspension in the wake of ball-tampering scandal, Steve Smith showed no signs of nerves as the former Australia skipper scored twin tons – 144 and 142 – in the Ashes opener, setting up Australia’s 251-run win at Edgbaston, a venue where they had not won an Ashes Test since 2001. ©AFP


While Stokes was doing all the damage, Leach did not throw his wicket away. The bespectacled cricketer played out 17 balls and when England needed two runs to win, he took perhaps the most important single of his life before Stokes finished the match with a four to seal a famous win. ©Twitter/Cricket.Com.Au


Tim Paine became the first Australian captain in 18 years to have returned home with an urn. Joe Root’s England, meanwhile, after winning the last Test at the Oval, levelled the series. This was the first drawn Ashes since 1972. ©AFP


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