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Australia openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja smashed unbeaten half-centuries on the penultimate day of the fifth and final Test of the high-profile Ashes series to give Pat Cummins’ men an edge over hosts England at The Oval. Australia reached 135-0 on a rain-shortened day in its pursuit of a massive target of 384 runs to seal the 5th Test and series in London. However, tables were turned on Day 5 as Ben Stokes’ England staged a stunning comeback with pace ace Chris Woakes dismissing in-form batters Warner and Khawaja.
Though Dukes ball had failed to assist England pacers on Day 4 of the 5th Test, England eventually bounced back in the 5th Test with the change of ball at The Oval. Khawaja, who brilliantly survived the new-ball burst on Day 4, copped a nasty blow on the helmet after which the umpires opted to change the match ball. The old ball had lost its shape after Mark Wood’s fiery delivery struck Khawaja on the helmet. Interestingly, the very first ball generated quite a buzz in the Sky Sports commentary box.
Ponting wants ball change to be investigated
“It certainly looks a lot newer than the one they changed from. Look at how much writing is on the side of that ball … that is a huge contrast to the conditions of the two Dukes balls,” Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting reckoned. “It really pinged off the bat. It even sounds harder,” Mark Taylor added. Drawing first blood for the Three Lions, Woakes removed Warner for 60 off 106 balls in the 41st over. The England speedster then got the better of Khawaja (72) in the 44th over of the Australian innings on Day 5 at The Oval.
Ponting also questioned umpires after England made the most of the ball change on Day 5 of the 5th Test. Umpires Joel Wilson and Kumar Dharmasena had decided to replace the ball after the first delivery of the 37th over. Launching an attack on the match officials, Ponting opined that umpires were ‘blase’ in their bid to change the match ball. “I just cannot fathom how two international umpires that have done that a lot of times before can get that so wrong. That is a huge moment in this game, potentially a huge moment in the Test match, and something I think actually has to be investigated: whether there was the right condition of balls in the box, or the umpires have just, blasé, picked one out of there that they think will be okay to use,” Ponting added.
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