The Ashes 2025-26 has already won by Australia, and surely the series would have ended on the 4th day of the 5th test match, but Jacob Bethell’s first Test hundred helped England stay alive in the match, and now we go to the fifth and final day with Australia in a comfortable position to win. Jacob Bethell is still at the increase, and on the last day, he would want to bat for as long as possible.
In the first innings, England managed to score 384 runs with Joe Root getting a century and scoring 160 runs. In reply, the Australian team scored 567 runs in their first innings with Travis Head scoring 163 and Steve Smith scoring 138. They had a lead of 183 runs. At the end of the day four of the 5th day, the England team managed to score 302/8, and now they have a lead of 119 runs going into the last day of this Ashes series.
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Ashes 2025-26: Jacob Bethell’s first Test hundred helps England stay alive in the match
The 4th day started with Australia batting on 518/6 with Steve Smith and Beau Webster at the crease, and they had a lead of 134 runs. Australia first lost the wicket of Steve Smith on 138 runs. Both players added 107 runs for the 8th wicket. Later, the Australians got all out on 567 runs with Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue, both bowlers, getting three wickets in the first innings for England.
England’s batting started, and they lost the wicket of Zak Crawley very early, which was on the fifth ball of their second innings. Comes in the 22-year-old, Jacob Bethell, to bat. Both Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell added 81 runs for the second wicket before Ben Duckett got out on 42. Joe Root got out early, and it was again a partnership being built between Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook. Both players added 102 runs for the fourth wicket before Harry Brooks got out.
On the other side, the wickets kept on failing, but it was Jacob Bethell who kept going and brought up his first-ever hundred in test match cricket for England, and what a way to do it. He also had a small 45-run partnership with Jamie Smith, but he too got out. Jacob Bethell did not give up and kept fighting as England ended the day on 302/8 and took a lead of 119 runs on the final day of the fifth test match. Jacob Bethell is unbeaten on 142 runs in 232 balls. His innings included 15 boundaries. He will come out tomorrow and surely put a fightable target on the board.