Ashes 5th Test, Day 5: Australia loses openers in contentious finale, edges towards 4-1 series win

Australia lost openers Travis Head and Jake Weatherald in a heated and contentious end to the morning session on the last day of the Ashes, cutting the target to 89 runs required for a 4-1 series win over England.

Australia was 71-2, chasing 160 for victory, at lunch on Thursday (January 8, 2025) after Weatherald was dismissed for 34 on the last ball before the interval. Josh Tongue has taken both wickets for England as Australia set about chasing the required runs quickly.

England resumed on Day 5 at 302-8, a lead of 119 runs, and was bowled out for 342, a 159-run lead with 2 1/2 sessions remaining a the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Mitchell Starc dismissed Jacob Bethell for 154 and Tongue (6) to finish off the England innings and finish the series with 31 wickets at an average of 19.9.

The Australians started their second innings quickly, scoring 10 in the first over — including a pair of boundaries from Head, who has scored three centuries in the series.

Head was caught in the deep for 29, trying to lift the tempo and mistiming a ball from Tongue. He finished with 629 runs across five tests.

After getting a major reprieve on a contentious DRS decision on 16, Weatherald almost made it through the session but misjudged a short ball from Tongue and his top edge was caught at fine-leg. He scored 34 from 40 deliveries.

Marnus Labuschagne was not out on 7 at the interval.

England’s bad luck with the decision review system continued, adding more spice to the last day of the series.

England reviewed umpire Ahsan Raza’s not out decision to a caught behind appeal when Weatherald wafted at a delivery from Brydon Carse with Australia on 33-0.

DRS technology appeared to show a slight murmur when the ball passed the toe of Weatherald’s bat before going through to the wicketkeeper. But TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena deemed there was inconclusive evidence the ball touched the bat and upheld Raza’s initial decision.

The England players were stunned, after watching the DRS replays on the stadium screens, and skipper Ben Stokes had to step in to move Carse away from umpire Raza as he demanded an explanation. Stokes calmly approached the umpire, discussed the decision-making process, and got on with the game.

Carse finished the session with figures of 0-30 from five overs, and Tongue had 2-23 from 5.4.

England needs eight wickets for an unlikely win in the fifth test. Australia has two full sessions to get the runs on a wearing pitch.

The Australians retained the Ashes with wins in the first three tests, but England is determined to narrow the margin after its drought-breaking win in Melbourne.