The heavens parted, the weather finally relented, and Ben Stokes' England team were given 47 overs to find seven wickets to tie the series. In a fitting finale to a campaign which has troughed and peaked, the home side managed just that
The Oval (final day of five): England 283 & 395, Australia 295 & 334 - England won by 49 runs
An electrifying final session of an electrifying Ashes series ended with England ripping through Australia.
Time, and leeway, was running out for the home side during a two-hour rain break on the fifth afternoon at The Oval, with Steve Smith and Travis Head steadily negotiating their way towards a 385-run target.
But the heavens parted, the weather finally relented, and Ben Stokes' England team were given 47 overs to find seven wickets to tie the series.
And in a fitting finale to a campaign which has troughed and peaked, the home side managed just that, with Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali doing the damage with the ball.
From 264 for 3, Australia slumped to 294 for 8 - the impact of a long and relentless tour starting to show. Late resistance could not halt the England train, and the coup de grace came - inevitably - from the retiring Stuart Broad, who produced a knee-pumping farewell spell of skill and heart to pick up each of the final two wickets to fall.
England did not regain the Ashes - that wet weekend in Manchester put paid to that - and they might reflect on a series draw as an unfair reflection given their performances at Headingley, Old Trafford and in south London.
Moeen Ali celebrates the wicket of Travis Head [AFP via Getty Images]
Steve Smith made a half-century for Australia [Getty Images]
But Stokes has always talked about his team not being wholly about winning; so perhaps a level but captivating series which has captured the imagination of a cricketing nation is just about right.
Australia resumed on day five needing 249 more runs for victory, with all 10 wickets in hand. But, helped by a replacement ball which offered plenty in the air and off the seam, England quickly began to make inroads.
What is likely to have been David Warner's final Test innings in England was ended by Woakes, who caught the edge of the opener's bat to leave Jonny Bairstow with a comfortable catch.
Usman Khawaja (72) followed soon after, burning a review in an attempt to overturn an lbw decision. The delivery, again from Woakes, would have gone on to cannon into middle and leg stumps.
When Marnus Labuschagne was squared up by Mark Wood to offer a catch to Zak Crawley at second slip on 13, the Aussies had lost three wickets for 29 runs in a little more than half-an-hour.
England could smell blood, but Smith and Head came together to usher the tourists away from danger. The pair negated the seaming and turning ball to put on 95 for the fourth wicket, either side of a two-hour rain break - Smith surviving after gloving to Stokes at leg gully, only for the England skipper to lose control of the ball after claiming it high above his head.
Jonny Bairstow celebrates the wicket of Head [Getty Images]
Smith walks off following his dismissal [Getty Images]
The rain relented with enough time for both teams to force a result: Australia would need to go at three runs per over, while England had to find a way of claiming seven wickets in an elongated session.
In a rampant spell from the middle of the 74th over, they turned an outside chance into an odds-on bet.
Head tried to drive Moeen Ali out of the rough and edged to the safe hands of Joe Root at slip, Crawley held on well to Smith's edge off Woakes, Bairstow took a tremendous reaction catch when Mitchell Marsh's inside edge ran off his body, and Mitchell Starc became the third Australian to give Crawley catching practice off Woakes.
Four wickets had fallen for 11 runs in three overs. The volume knob at The Oval had been ripped off.
Pat Cummins briefly threatened to prevent the England party but he miscued a pull off Moeen into his thigh, and Stokes claimed the looping catch, leaving Alex Carey with the task of guiding Todd Murphy and Josh Hazlewood to the target.
Jonny Bairstow takes a tumbling catch to get rid of Mitchell Marsh [Getty Images]
Bairstow celebrates the wicket of Marsh [Getty Images]
Murphy, who showed in the first innings just how competent he is with the bat, once again provided a very useful foil to his teammate. He and Carey added 35 for the ninth wicket, and England were getting visibly angsty. Cue Stuart Broad.
Wicketless to this point, Broad began to find movement which bewitched Murphy - who a handful of overs earlier had the confidence to advance down the track and deposit the seamer over midwicket for four.
Two deliveries move extravagantly away from Murphy, who missed each by inches rather than centimetres. Broad, in an effort to trigger good fortune, flicked a bail over at the non-striker's end.
The superstitious move worked. With the very next ball, Broad found yet more movement - in the air and off the deck. Bairstow took a catch low to his right. The Oval erupted.
And minutes later it went beserk. Broad again found movement away from Carey, flicked the edge of the bat, and Bairstow did the rest again.
Broad, whose final ball faced as a batsman in Test cricket was deposited into the stands for six, ended his career with a wicket to win a game for England.
It was quite a script.
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