England end 15-year drought with Boxing Day Test victory over Australia

MELBOURNE: The England men's cricket team registered their first Test victory in Australia since 2011 as they stunned the home side by four wickets in the penultimate Ashes game here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday.

The enthralling fixture finished inside two days as England chased down the modest 175-run target on a tough surface, which drew strong criticism from the cricket fraternity after 20 wickets fell on the opening day.

The victory ended England's 15-year wait for a victory Down Under, as their last triumph in the country came in the Sydney Test of the 2011 Ashes on January 7.

The decisive second day commenced with Australia resuming their second innings from 4/0, leading 46 runs, but could add 128 more to their overnight total for all remaining 10 wickets as England captain Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse ran through their batting unit.

Travis Head remained the top-scorer for Australia in the second innings with an anchoring 46 off 67 deliveries, while captain Steve Smith (24) and all-rounder Cameron Green (19) were the others to amass double figures.

Carse led England's bowling charge with a four-wicket haul, followed by Stokes with three. Josh Tongue backed his first-innings five-wicket haul with two scalps, while Gus Atkinson chipped in with one before hamstring injury forced him to leave the field.

The touring side, who have already conceded the blockbuster series, began the pursuit with intent as their opening pair of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put together a quickfire 51-run partnership, which culminated with the latter's dismissal off Mitchell Starc on the final delivery of the seventh over.

Duckett scored 34 off 26 deliveries, laced with four fours and a six.

England promoted Carse to No.3, but the decision backfired as the batting all-rounder was sent back by Jhye Richardson in the 10th over.

Following the back-to-back wickets, Jacob Bethell joined Crawley in the middle, and the duo batted sensibly under pressure to anchor England's run chase.

Crawley and Bethell registered a crucial 57-run stand and bolstered England's total past the 100-run mark before the opener was trapped lbw by Scott Boland. He contributed with a 48-ball 37, featuring three fours and a six.

Bethell was then involved in a brief 25-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Joe Root until Boland struck again to draw curtains on his gutsy knock. He remained the visitors' top-scorer with a 46-ball 40, studded with five boundaries.

Root and Harry Brook then joined forces to put England within touching distance of victory by knitting a handy 21-run partnership until the former walked back after scoring 15.

England then suffered another setback to their pursuit as their captain Stokes fell for a nine-ball two when they required 10 more runs with four wickets in hand.

But Brook and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith held their nerves calm and eventually steered their side to a historic victory in Australia, remaining unbeaten for 18 and three, respectively.

For Australia, Starc, Boland and Richardson took two wickets each in the second innings.