Australia cruised to a 3-0 lead in the Ashes series
Australia - 662 for 9 dec. (Smith 239, Marsh 181, Khawaja 50, Paine 49*, Anderson 4-116) beat
England - 403 all out (Malan 140, Bairstow 119, Stoneman 56, Starc 4-91, Hazlewood 3-92) and
- 218 all out (Vince 55, Malan 54, Hazlewood 5-48) by an innings and 41 runs
Series result : Australia lead the 5-match series 3-0
Player of the Match : Steven Smith
For Steven Smith's men, this was the culmination of a three-Test sequence in which they have dominated England for the most part, and they can now head to Melbourne and Sydney with the aim of stamping their mark on Ashes history with another clean sweep. Whatever happens, they will never forget the WACA's Ashes farewell.
Australian Captain's (Steven Smith) Comments : "Captaining an Ashes winning side is an amazing feeling. It's a moment we've been looking forward to, so much has gone into the preparation, the way we've gone about it was spectacular, 400 is a pretty good total but we come out and got a massive score and only had to bat once. The bowlers have done a massive job, Nathan Lyon has been exceptional. So many emotions coming out, the boys are going to celebrate hard tonight. Josh Hazlewood was exceptional, he hit really good areas and got Bairstow early. To win an amazing Ashes series, to be 3-0 up and get that urn back, I'm really proud."
England Captain's (Joe Root) Comments : "Very difficult to take but fair play to Australia, they've outplayed us in all three game and we've got to be better. [Pitch?] It wasn't fit to play this morning, it obviously dried up and I think by the end there it was probably fit to play. [Only 400 first inns] Yeah, that's not ideal, but the [Malan-Bairstow] partnership and the way those two played was outstanding, they should be really proud. From the position of 100-4, that's not good enough. We've got to learn from it and get better but there's good thing to come from this week. Those guys putting in big performances under pressure was outstanding, the way Vincey played in the second innings was proper batting, it took that delivery to get him out. We've got to make sure we got to Melbourne, prepare well and put in good performance there."
