Australia won the final Ashes Test against England by five wickets on Thursday to seal a dominant 4-1 victory after a gruelling series, sending the retiring Usman Khawaja out on a high.
The nervy hosts saw wickets tumble as they chased their 160 target, which they reached after lunch on day five with Cameron Green not-out 22 and Alex Carey on 16 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
For England it was the final chapter in a miserable series.
“That’s Ashes cricket. Everyone got tense,” said Carey, who hit the winning runs.
“Usman is going to be missed. A great career and a great way to finish.”
Australia lost openers Travis Head (29) and Jake Weatherald (34), along with captain Steve Smith (12) and Khawaja, who made six in his final knock before retirement.
“It means a lot. So much has gone into it. The only thing I wanted was a win, as much as I wanted to hit the winning runs,” said Khawaja, who was almost in tears as he walked off to a standing ovation after being bowled by Josh Tongue.
“The whole Test match I found it hard to control my emotions,” Khawaja added after his 88th and final appearance on the Test stage.
Marnus Labuschagne, dropped on 20, compiled 37 before needlessly running himself out to give Ben Stokes’s men a flicker of hope as they reduced Australia to 121-5.
But victory was never seriously in doubt after England were dismissed for 342 on the back of Jacob Bethell’s stylish 154.
“Australia are an incredible team,” said Stokes, whose side were outplayed over the course of the series.
“They had individuals who stood up. Full credit to them. But we know we could have done better.”
Defeat ended a long tour for the visitors that quickly turned into a horror show when they lost the opening two Tests in Perth and Brisbane by eight wickets and the third at Adelaide by 82 runs.
Stokes’s side had arrived confident they could win their first series in Australia since 2010-11 amid taunts about the hosts having their worst side in 15 years.
Facing heavy criticism over their preparations, discipline and ultra-aggressive “Bazball” style of cricket, they rallied to pull off a stunning four-wicket comeback win in the fourth Test in Melbourne.
It was their first victory in 18 Tests on Australian soil and restored some pride, but another loss in Sydney, albeit close, will see them face a tough inquisition on their return home with coach Brendon McCullum’s job on the line.
“Time for reflection is not right now,” said Stokes.
“We’ve got a long time away to reflect on it. Come June when we next play, hopefully we can put the wrongs right.”
Australia achieved their success despite being without pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood for the series and skipper Pat Cummins for all but one Test, while veteran spin king Nathan Lyon played a limited role.
Nearly 860,000 fans watched the series with a record 211,032 through the turnstiles in Sydney.
Tempers flared earlier on day five when Weatherald survived a review for caught behind on 16 despite the controversial Snicko technology, which has been unreliable all series, appearing to indicate a faint murmur.
An angry Brydon Carse had to be pulled away from complaining to the on-field umpire by Stokes and the bowler exchanged heated words with Weatherald.
England finally got their reward when Head swiped Tongue to Carse at midwicket and Weatherald top-edged the same bowler to Matthew Potts.
Smith was bamboozled by a turning ball by spinner Will Jacks and Khawaja, after being given a guard of honour by England when he walked out for the final time, played on.
England resumed on 302-8 with a 119-run advantage and added 40.
Precocious number three Bethell, trumpeted as the future of English cricket, padded up on 142 with Potts yet to score.
He reached 150 before edging Mitchell Starc to wicketkeeper Carey to end a breakthrough innings, with his marathon 265-ball stay including 15 fours.
Tongue was the last man out for six, again to Starc, with Potts unbeaten on 18.
It was Starc’s 31st wicket of the series, more than any other bowler.
Australia were all out for 567 in their first innings on Wednesday on the back of centuries from Head and Smith in reply to the tourists’ 384, built on Joe Root’s 160.