Fifth Test
Australia headed south to The Oval for the Fifth Test. Barnes resumed his opening position, while Hassett returned to his customary position in the middle order. England won the toss and elected to bat on a rain-affected pitch. Propelled by Ray Lindwall's 6/20, Australia skittled England for 52 in 42.1 overs on the first afternoon.
In contrast, Australia batted with ease, as the overcast skies cleared and the sun came out. Morris and Barnes passed England's first innings total by themselves, taking less than an hour to push the Australians into the lead. O’Reilly felt the Australian openers wanted to prove "the pitch itself had nothing whatever to do with the English batting debacle". The only chance came when Barnes powerfully square cut Bedser low to point, where Young spilled the catch. When Young came on to bowl, his finger spin was expected to trouble the batsmen on a rain-affected surface, but he delivered little variation in pace and trajectory and Barnes in particular hit him repeatedly through the off side field. Australia reached 100 at 17:30, with Barnes on 52 and Morris on 47. They took the score to 117 before Barnes was caught behind from Eric Hollies for 61, ending a 126-minute stand. Barnes stumbled forward to a fast-turning leg break that caught his outside edge. He had overbalanced and would have been stumped if he had failed to make contact with the ball. Australia finished at 389 on the second day and bowled out the hosts for 188 in the second innings, sealing victory by an innings and 149 runs to complete a 4–0 series win.
Read more about this topic: Sid Barnes With The Australian Cricket Team In England In 1948
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