An enthralling Ashes will come to its conclusion at the Kia Oval on Monday with Stuart Broad and England eager to fashion a “fairy-tale finish” to square the series.
Sunday’s washout following only 39.5 overs means the latest instalment of the England versus Australia rivalry has gone to the wire with plenty on the line.
Australia are 135 without loss in pursuit of 384 to win a series in England for the first time since 2001, but the hosts are desperate to claim a victory that would earn them a share of the spoils at 2-2 despite urn returning Down Under.
Throw in Broad’s retirement in addition to this arguably being the end of an era for several members on each XI and it sets up the prospect of a fitting finale to an Ashes series that has left its mark on a generation.
View from the dressing room
England may prefer for Australia not to get their target down to single figures but Broad will be dreaming of a leading character role. Australia need 249 more runs to pull off victory and claim a 3-1 series win, but their pursuit of 384 would represent the second highest Test chase in this country. It is geared up to be another thriller.
Symbolic send-off
Broad lapped up the benefits of making his retirement plans public on Saturday night when he walked out to bat for one final time on day four.
A sold-out Kia Oval crowed greeted his emergence from the pavilion with a standing ovation before old rivals Australia gave the veteran a guard of honour.
Alongside Broad was his friend James Anderson with the duo arm in arm before the latter told his fellow his new ball partner to soak up the special moment alone.
Stand and deliver
After the testimonial vibes of Broad’s standing ovation and guard of honour, a bizarre opening passage occurred from Mitchell Starc’s opening over with singles turned down during the first five balls.
It was quickly forgotten when Starc’s final delivery was short and Broad latched onto it with a swashbuckling pull for six over square leg.
Anderson was trapped lbw by Todd Murphy in the next over, which meant Broad’s maximum was the final ball he faced in cricket. Some way to go.
Little birthday joy for Jimmy
While Broad would have hoped for a wicket on what could have been his swansong, Anderson may have also envisaged a different 41st birthday.
The elder statesman of the England team was serenaded by the Kia Oval crowd with happy birthday and his children made a poster for their dad which was picked up by the TV cameras, but he was out lbw after five balls.
Anderson then again ran in hard and produced his normal pace, but he and the rest of the bowling attack were blunted by Australia’s openers and worryingly barely an opportunity was created in 38 overs. Captain Ben Stokes knows that must change early on Monday.
Khawaja kicks Creepy off top spot
No two batters have better highlighted the culture clash between the teams than Usman Khawaja and Zak Crawley, who will end the series as numbers one and two in the run-scoring charts.
Crawley’s classy 73 on day three took his overall tally to 480 runs and left Khawaja with a 57-run target to pip him to the top spot, which he managed in stoic fashion on Sunday and the Australian opener walked off unbeaten on 69.
While Khawaja is seven runs shy of the 500-mark, the eye-catching difference between the duo is the number of balls faced. Crawley needed 541 deliveries to score his tally at a strike rate of 88.72. In contrast Khawaja has taken 1,248 balls with a strike rate of 39.50 to demonstrate the different methods adopted by the teams this summer.
Broad’s Ashes?
Broad has already confirmed he will retire but he is not the only player set to bring their Ashes career to an end on Monday.
Warner will bow out in January and is 32 runs shy of signing off here with a first hundred in England while Moeen Ali signalled earlier this summer he would go back into red-ball retirement.
The next Ashes is more than two years away and it looks a tall order for 41-year-old Anderson to feature while Mark Wood, 33, may even struggle and doubts have to be cast over Stokes given his ongoing knee concerns.
Australia’s XI includes several players over 30, with Steve Smith (34), Khawaja (36), Josh Hazlewood (32) and Mitchell Starc (33) unlikely to grace these shores again.
It all contributes to the end-of-an-era feel surrounding day five but with 20 wickets in this series and this ground the scene of his first big Ashes moment in 2009, you would not bet against Broad producing a fairy-tale finish.
Kane lauds 'fantastic' Tuchel but unaware of growing England links
Harry Kane remains unaware of ongoing discussions for Thomas Tuchel to take over as England manager but lauded his "fantastic" former head coach.
The England captain enjoyed a record-breaking debut season for Bayern Munich under Tuchel last campaign, before the 51-year-old was dismissed and replaced by Vincent Kompany.
Kane could reunite with Tuchel soon, however, amid widespread reports on Tuesday that the former Chelsea and Bayern boss has agreed to become England's permanent manager.
Former Tottenham talisman Kane refused to delve too deep into the capabilities of Tuchel due to the ongoing discussions, but still spoke highly of his previous experience with him.
"Until it's announced obviously I can't really comment, but we have to wait and see," the striker told Sky Sports in Germany.
"Obviously, I know Thomas well from last year. [He is a] fantastic coach, fantastic person. I am sure the guys at the FA will contact me, when they know more about it."
Kane scored 36 times in just 32 Bundesliga games last term under Tuchel, breaking the record for the most goals in a debut season in the competition.
However, that was not enough to keep the former Paris Saint-Germain boss in his role at Bayern, who parted ways with Tuchel after his side finished third behind Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart.
Tuchel still maintained an impressive 60.7% winning record across all competitions for Bayern (winning 37 out of 61 matches), a mark he only bettered with Borussia Dortmund (62.6%) and PSG (74.8%).
It may be Tuchel's cup-competition expertise that has drawn England to his skills, though, leading PSG to their first Champions League final in 2020 and winning the same competition with Chelsea a year later.
Indeed, Tuchel has managed 40 Champions League wins in 67 games, with his 59.7% winning ratio more than all but one England manager at major tournaments (World Cup and Euros) – Alf Ramsey had 66.7%.
Time will tell if Tuchel, should he be appointed, can provide a similar winning formula at the 2026 World Cup, where Kane will be delighted to work with his former boss.
Matthews, Joseph star as Windies Women seal semi-final spot with stunning victory over England
Qiana Joseph and Hayley Matthews guided the West Indies into the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 with an emphatic six-wicket victory over England.
Both openers hit rapid half-centuries, with Joseph finishing on 52 and Matthews on 50, as the 2016 champions easily reached their target of 142 with two overs to spare and knocked England out in the process.
Nat Sciver-Brunt hit an unbeaten 57 to help set the West Indies 141 to win, but it was not enough in the face of a dazzling batting performance from Matthews and Joseph.
The West Indies progress from Group B alongside South Africa courtesy of both sides boasting superior net run rates than England, with all three teams finishing on six points.
With the win, West Indies topped the group and will play New Zealand on Friday while Australia take on South Africa in the first semifinal on Thursday.
England felt their way into the innings, but openers Maia Bouchier and Danni Wyatt-Hodge soon found an early groove, with a boundary apiece in the opening four overs.
Scores: England 141-7 (20 overs); West Indies 142-4 (18 overs)
But the West Indies quickly brought that nascent partnership to an end as Deandra Dottin took a superb catch off Hayley Matthews’ bowling to dismiss Wyatt-Hodge for 16.
The West Indies kept up the pressure with the wicket of Alice Capsey (1) just five balls later thanks to more impressive fielding from Dottin.
This time she produced a terrific throw directly into Shemaine Campbelle as England tried a quick single to secure a run out with Capsey well out of her ground.
Two quick wickets rapidly swung the momentum towards the West Indies, and the dismissal of Bouchier (14) only continued that trend as England were reduced to 34 for three after the opener looped one to extra cover off Afy Fletcher.
But England were able to steady the ship through the experienced pair of Nat Sciver-Brunt and captain Heather Knight, who stymied the West Indies attack while keeping the scoreboard ticking over nicely.
Knight led from the front with 21 off just 13 balls but was then retired hurt in the 13th over.
Replacement Amy Jones looked to continue where Knight left off but was dismissed for seven when she found the hands of Dottin at backward point with a sliced shot off Fletcher.
It was almost two wickets in two balls, but new batter Charlie Dean was put down Chedean Nation. Dean was caught just under two overs later for five runs having helped guide England past the 100-mark, as Fletcher took her third wicket of the match thanks to captain Matthews pouching a comfortable catch at cover.
All the while, Sciver-Brunt kept England quietly ticking over and brought up her half-century with two boundaries in an over.
Dani Gibson and Sophie Ecclestone both added seven each before falling late on, with Ecclestone hitting a six in the final over to help England push to a final total of 141.
The West Indies made a lightning-fast start in response, with Matthews hitting 14 from the first over, including a six from just the second ball of the innings.
Her opening partner Qiana Joseph began in similarly emphatic fashion with a four from her first ball as the West Indies powered to 44 from the first four overs.
England were not without their wicket chances despite West Indies’ rapid scoring, with Capsey dropping Joseph on 31 as West Indies brought up 50 in 27 balls.
The partnership of Matthews and Joseph continued to keep up their heavy scoring and took full advantage of any mistakes in the field, with Joseph hitting another six through the hands of Bouchier.
Joseph then brought up her first international T20 fifty and then took the West Indies past 100 before finally falling for 52 from 38 balls as she was caught by Wyatt-Hodge on the boundary off of Sciver-Brunt just one ball after surviving another catch chance.
Captain Matthews then brought up her half-century and then fell to Sarah Glenn just two balls later on 50 from 38.
The pair of quick wickets proved to slow down the West Indies attack, but Deandra Dottin and Shemaine Campbelle were able to keep their side moving towards the target.
Campbelle was run out for five as West Indies closed in on victory before Dottin was bowled by Ecclestone two balls later, but her quickfire 27 left her side needing just six runs to win.
Aaliyah Alleyne got four of those from the first ball she faced before she finished off the chase with 12 balls to spare to cap a remarkable victory for West Indies.
The West Indies and South Africa have also confirmed their places at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, along with hosts England, thanks to their top three finish in the group stage, while Australia, New Zealand, and India made it from Group A.
Apart from the top six teams in this tournament, the next two highest-ranked teams in the Women’s T20I rankings as of October 21, 2024, will also qualify. The remaining four teams will qualify through a global 10-team qualifier.
Spin carnage: Debutant Dunith Wellalage grabs 3-9 as Sri Lanka hammer spineless Windies by 73 runs
West Indies batting frailty against spin bowling was once again at the forefront of a humbling 73-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the second T20 encounter on Tuesday, leaving the three-match series finely poised at one win apiece.
Chasing 163 for victory, the Caribbean side collapsed to a paltry 89 all out in 16.1 overs — their fourth-lowest total in T20I cricket. It was a dismal batting display, marked by their inability to handle Sri Lanka's spin-heavy attack, which ruthlessly exposed the West Indies' vulnerabilities.
Only captain Rovman Powell (20), Alzarri Joseph (16), and Sherfane Rutherford (14) managed to break into double figures in Dambullah. The rest of the batting lineup crumbled, as Sri Lanka's spinners, led by debutant Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and captain Charith Asalanka, tied the West Indians in knots on a turning track.
Scores: Sri Lanka 162-5 (20 overs); West Indies 89 all out (16.1 overs)
Wellalage proved especially destructive with 3-9 from his four overs, while Asalanka (2-6), Theekshana (2-7), and Hasaranga (2-32) shared six wickets between them. Seamer Matheesha Pathirana accounted for the other wicket.
The Caribbean side’s batting implosion was emblematic of a broader struggle — an inability to adjust to the spin-friendly conditions, as their chase was derailed early, with openers Brandon King and Evin Lewis falling cheaply.
Wickets tumbled rapidly thereafter, with little resistance from Powell and Alzarri Joseph in particular at the backend, as they shared in the team’s highest partnership of 23 runs. The capitulation reflected not only technical flaws but also an apparent lack of composure under pressure, something Head coach Darren Sammy and company will have to address ahead of the decisive game on Thursday.
While the batting was the primary issue, West Indies also struggled in the field earlier in the match.
Sri Lanka opting to bat first, made their intentions clear as Pathum Nissanka, who topscored with 54 off 49 balls, and Kusal Mendis (26), went on the charge in a 77-run opening stand.
Still, West Indies were far from their best in the field, as dropped chances by Roston Chase and Gudakesh Motie, as well as misfields from Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph, allowed Sri Lanka to gain crucial extra runs.
Nissanka slammed nine fours and a six in his knock, while Kusal Perera chipped in with 24, and Kamindu Mendis contributed 19, as West Indies gradually pulled things back from a more daunting target, which mattered little in the end.
Romario Shepherd led the bowling with 2-23.
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