OVAL AND ROUT England end this amazing summer in style with a thumping win to draw the series and deny the Aussies an outright Ashes triumph

JOE ROOT finished it off in style yesterday – with the catch that sealed a 2-2 Ashes series draw and made 2019 an unforgettable summer.

England captain Root dived one handed at mid-wicket to remove Josh Hazlewood, taking a second catch in as many balls to complete the 135-run win that denied Australia outright victory and secured the first Ashes draw since 1972.

And it meant that while the Ashes might have gone, England coach Trevor Bayliss leaves his role in charge of the side having never lost a Test series at home in four years.

At the end of the longest, the most emotional and the most thrilling summer of cricket, there were England players queuing up to be heroes. Stuart Broad was at the front having been here before, of course, back in 2009 when his 5-37 set up an Ashes win and made his name.

And after clubbing a couple of sixes with the bat he took two of the first three wickets to fall with the ball to set England on their way defending 399.

Inevitably, David Warner was one of the scalps as Broad sent him back for the seventh time to complete a truly miserable series for the opener.

When Rory Burns held on to a smart catch in the gully it meant Warner had scored a total of just 95 runs across five Tests, beating an unwanted record for the least runs scored by an opener in 10 innings.

Broad also became the first England bowler to claim the wicket of one man seven times in an Ashes series, joining Nathan Lyon, Glenn Mcgrath, and Geoff Lawson as the Aussies to have done it against Moeen Ali, Mike Atherton and David Gower respectively.

If Warner’s wicket was expected then his next certainly wasn’t as Steve Smith fell for just 23, much to everyone’s surprise.

Bowling short and at the hip, with a man stationed around the corner at leg slip – almost Bodyline-esque in its design – Smith failed to keep on top of

Broad’s delivery and only guided the ball into the waiting hands of Ben Stokes (above).

There was still plenty to do but the sight of Smith returning to the dressing room for the final time with a tally of 774 runs to his name felt like a seismic moment in the game. If Broad was an early favourite to be England’s match-winner then don’t forget about Jack Leach, England’s first-choice spinner, who had Marnus Labuschagne brilliantly stumped for just 14.

Leach became a cult hero for his batting in this series but here was a chance for him to make his name with his main role and he looked like taking it.

Root brought himself on to spin the ball away from the lefthanded Matthew Wade but ended up taking the wicket of the right-handed Mitch Marsh