England person survived for a gutsy gully connected time 5 astatine the SCG, ensuring Australia volition not get a cleanable expanse of the Ashes.
No sporting lawsuit tin truly connection the aforesaid twists and turns that Test cricket does, arsenic the SCG turned successful a classical 5th day.
All that was missing was a young Michael Clarke with dyed hair, and Ishant Sharma with 2 right-handed batting gloves.
AS IT HAPPENED: England clasp connected for riveting SCG draw
LIVE UPDATES: Barty sends rivals ominous warning
First determination was Zak Crawley cultivating a cautious optimism for England that they could implicit a grounds fourth-innings pursuit astatine the SCG, past a consciousness of dread that different illness was imminent erstwhile Joe Root was dismissed.
From an Australian constituent of view, determination was a resigned acceptance that a gully was coming, either astatine the rainfall delay, oregon astatine tea, erstwhile immoderate fans decided to caput home.
But nary substance wherever your passions lie, the last mates of hours would support adjacent the astir agnostic of cricket neutrals glued to their spot - atrocious referrals, adjacent calls, missed catches and thing other you could want.
Ben Stokes, a visceral quality astatine the champion of times, could scarcely judge what he'd done erstwhile helium meekly poked 1 from Nathan Lyon into the grateful hands of Steve Smith and held his bat aloft for respective seconds afterwards, arsenic though frozen successful shock.
A continual thorn successful Australia's broadside - portion nursing an wounded successful his ain - it looked similar helium would erstwhile again play the portion of antagonist to perfection.
Instead, helium was gone - and getting the breakthrough earlier the caller shot was key.
From determination it was clip for the Australian skipper to enactment his ain stamp connected the innings with 2 wickets successful 3 balls.
The archetypal was possibly somewhat fortunate arsenic Jos Buttler's bat and ft collided, allowing the shot harmless transition done to his backmost pad - but the second, to get Mark Wood for a duck, was utterly unplayable arsenic helium ripped a yorker down with plaything and powerfulness seldom seen implicit the past fewer days.
Scott Boland, Australia's newest hero, took yet different wicket successful his ridiculous commencement to Test cricket, but arsenic the airy became a origin and the umpires demanded rotation from some hands, the skipper threw the shot to his deputy.
Smith secured the wicket of Leach, his archetypal successful six years - and James Anderson came to the crease, alongside aged mate Stuart Broad, needing to past 12 deliveries.
Despite the champion efforts of Lyon, Smith and the 9 fielders astir the bat chirping non-stop, the 2 veterans stood gangly - and finally, aft a horrific tour, gave England thing to judge in.
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