Ashes 2021-22: Nervous Ben Stokes hides his face before final ball of Sydney Test

England managed to survive the last little nervous overs of day five and they deserved it to an extent. All-rounder Ben Stokes who battled with an excellent knock of 60 on the final day, could not bear watching his team on the verge of yet another defeat in hands of Australia. It could not have got a better Test match action at the Sydney as Australia staged a last-minute comeback to leave England in stutters.

Australia needed just one wicket to win but they had just two overs to do it with the experienced bowling pair of Stuart Broad and James Anderson at the crease. Steve Smith bowled the last over of the day, and Anderson managed to help England away from going down 0-4 in the series. The action will now shift to Hobart for the fifth Test as England will look to win for pride.

Pat Cummins picks up two wickets in succession

Earlier, on the day, England needed to chase down a big score of 388 to win the Test, and they definitely wanted to save the game by playing out the overs on the final day. Zak Crawley played an excellent hand of 77 at the top of the order and Stokes took charge of the batting once the opener got dismissed. Root looked good until he was dismissed for 24 by Boland and the in-form batter Jonny Bairstow stitched hands with Stokes.

After playing out a gritty knock, Stokes was dismissed in the 75th over with a considerable amount of overs left in the day. The Australian skipper Pat Cummins picked up Mark Wood and Jos Buttler in a span of three deliveries and the responsibility shifted to the first innings century-maker to take the team home. Jack Leach showed his batting potential playing an excellent hand of 26 in 34 balls to support Bairstow, who got 41.

Boland picked up Bairstow with 10 overs left in the day, while Leach and Broad played out the overs almost Smith broke into the bowling attack. With two overs left, Leach was dismissed, and the visitors had to bat out two overs to save the Test. They did manage to battle it out and it was meant to be a huge escape for the side. Usman Khawaja was named the Player of the Match for his back-to-back centuries in the first and the second innings.