Ashes: Tongue becomes first England bowler since 1998 to take five-for at MCG

Melbourne, Dec 26 (IANS) Josh Tongue scripted history after he became the first England bowler this century to claim a five-wicket haul in Men’s Tests at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here on Friday.

Tongue picked up 5-45 during Australia’s first innings of 152 all out. Reeling 3-0 in the series, Tongue’s efforts helped England bowled out Australia for 152 in their first innings of the Boxing Day Test.

It was the first time an England bowler had claimed a five-wicket haul in a Test at the MCG since Darren Gough and Dean Headley did so in 1998, with Tongue breaking a 27-year drought as the tourists breathed life into an Ashes series that Australia have already retained.

The spell was also Tongue’s most productive in Test cricket, surpassing his previous best effort of 5/66 against Ireland at Lord’s in 2023. During Australia’s second innings, Tongue will be on a hat-trick after dismissing Scott Boland (0) and Michael Neser (35) with the last two balls of the hosts’ first innings.

Australia didn’t have a strong start in front of a superb bowling performance from the visitors after opting to field. Tongue picked three of the top four Australian batters as the hosts lost four wickets in the morning session.

Khawaja then perished in the fourth over after lunch, courtesy of a successful review. Carey couldn’t bail his team out of trouble this time as he fell to the leg slip trap. Just when it seemed like batting was comfortable, Cameron Green was run out. Michael Neser scored a valuable 35 that comprised seven fours, but Tongue came back to wrap up the innings as he claimed his career’s third Test fifer.

Notably, a massive crowd has been confirmed at the MCG with 93,442 people in the house already, a number which could grow further.

–IANS

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