England sets a formidable target of 384 runs for Australia as they head into the final day of the fifth and last Ashes Test at The Oval. The Aussie openers, David Warner and Usman Khawaja, displayed a strong start, guiding their team to a steady 75/0 by the end of the first session.
England began the session at 389/9, with James Anderson (8*) and Stuart Broad (2*) at the crease. Broad, who was playing his final international cricket match, received a touching ‘Guard of Honour’ from the Australian players as he made his way onto the field. He then thrilled the crowd by smashing a massive six off Mitchell Starc in the opening over of the session.
However, Todd Murphy took his fourth wicket by dismissing Anderson for eight runs in the next over, and England was eventually all out for 395, setting a target of 384 runs for Australia to win the Ashes series 3-1 or for England to level it at 2-2.
Mitchell Starc and Todd Murphy were the top bowlers for Australia with four wickets each, while skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood got one wicket each.
In their chase, the Australian openers, Warner and Khawaja, provided a solid partnership. Warner displayed aggressive batting, pushing the score forward with timely boundaries. At the end of 20 overs, Australia was at 63/0, with Warner (28*) and Khawaja (29*) at the crease.
Australia’s task is to chase down the challenging target of 384 runs to secure a series win, while England seeks to level the series with a win.
Brief Scores: England: 283 and 395 (Joe Root 91, Jonny Bairstow 78, Mitchell Starc 4/100) vs Australia: 295 and 75/0 (Usman Khawaja 39*, David Warner 30*).
