DIGGING DEEP

England Hold Rampant Aussies For A Draw In Fading Light In Sydney, Avoid Whitewash

Sydney: England’s walking wounded defied the Australia bowling attack to bat out a dramatic final day of the fourth Ashes Test for a morale-boosting thriller of a draw at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Stuart Broad and James Anderson steered England to 270 for nine at the close of play in the evening gloom, well short of the victory target of 388 but a huge turnaround after heavy losses in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins was unable to use pace in a tense final three overs because of the fading light and his predecessor Steve Smith took his first Test wicket in almost six years to dismiss Jack Leach for 26 with his leg spin.

That left Australia needing one wicket in the last two overs but Broad and Anderson, despite as many as eight fielders crowding around them, stood firm to frustrate the home side.

“It’s been a difficult tour, but we stood up and found a way to get a result out of this game,” said Root. “We wanted to put pride back into the badge. The way we went about it in this game, we did that. We know there’s a long way to go. It would be nice to front up again next week and go one better.”