Event of the Day: Australia v England

Our event of the day is the fifth and final day of the 3rd Test match of the 2017-18 Ashes series between Australia and England at the WACA ground in East Perth. England trail by 127 runs with six wickets remaining after the first four days, and Australia have a huge opportunity to regain the Ashes today – after their comfortable victories in Brisbane and Adelaide. England are left with the small hope that rain in the Perth area, could save them and deliver a draw – though they would still need to win the last two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney to retain the Ashes by drawing the series. Before they declared, Australia achieved 662 run for the loss of 9 wickets – their highest Ashes innings total on home turf and fifth highest in their Ashes history.

Captain Steve Smith accumulated 239, his career-best score and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh scored an impressive 181. England, on the other hand, became just the eighth team in Test history to have five bowlers all conceding 100 runs in the same innings.

England’s only century makers so far in the series, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow, are currently at the crease on 28 and 14 not out respectively - they have a lot of work to do to save the match for England. It should be an interesting and absorbing end to the Test in Perth if the bad weather stays away and there is the real possibility that Australia reclaim the Ashes.

 

Honourable mentions around the globe go to the NFL clash between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Tampa Bay have no chance of reaching the playoffs with a 4-9 record in NFC South, but will try and play the spoiler for their division rivals, Atlanta, who are strongly aiming for the wild card round with an 8-5 record currently, and still have a chance of winning the division ahead of the Saints and Panthers. In the NBA, there’s a duel between the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Among the NHL fixtures, there’s a match between the Boston Bruins and the Columbus Blue Jackets at Boston’s TD Garden. The PDC World Darts Championship continues at Alexandra Palace in London. In the Premier League, Everton welcome Swansea City to Goodison Park, while in La Liga, Malaga take on Real Betis at La Rosaleda in Málaga.

 

Whatever you’re watching, enjoy!

 

Fixture

 

Photos by England Cricket; Cricket Australia