England's toil finally resulted in nothing as Australia have managed a draw in the Boxing Day Test. The Aussies exhibited a great deal of patience as they made only 160 runs losing 2 wickets on the 5th  day.

After a rain-interrupted 4th day, the Test was supposed to be drawn and England had a lot to do in order to pull things off. But David Warner, Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh kept frustrating the English bowlers throughout the whole day-5.

Warner picked up the slowest half-century in his career. He played 161 deliveries to make his first fifty runs which overcame his previous slowest half-century off 133 deliveries in 2012 against West Indies. The opener scored 86 runs playing 227 balls before getting out caught at cover facing a delivery from English skipper Joe Root.

Shaun Marsh did not stay for long on the pitch as he departed scoring 4 runs. Stuart Broad got his only wicket in this innings as Shaun was caught behind edging the ball.

Then came Mitchell Marsh to accompany the captain of his side. Together they played for almost 50 overs and built a steady partnership of 85 runs remaining unbeaten.

Meanwhile, the Baggy Green skipper―Steve Smith―picked up the 23rd Test ton of his career. He played a beautiful innings of 102 runs facing 275 deliveries and saved the match with the help of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh.

Mitch played an appreciable innings of 29 runs from 166 balls. The two teams finally ended the 3rd highest streak of 13 matches of most successive Ashes Tests without a draw. 

After the match, Smith said, "Nice to have finished off well and get the boys a draw at the end. I thought Mitch played really well, eating up 160 balls for his 30-odd and did a good job to get us to a draw.

"Yesterday afternoon when it started raining, and the pitch was really slow was when we thought of going for the draw. The pitch was really slow and though there was a bit of reverse, it was difficult to get people out. It was a nice wicket to bat on and not get out; but was difficult to score,"

Smith praised Cook's innings as well. He said,"Every time you get to 200 means you've played well. He cut and pulled really well and put anything off his pads to the boundary. He stuck to the basics and when you get in, it is difficult to get out on a surface like this if you bat long,"

The English skipper Joe Root said, "We did have a great chance at lunch and we did everything we could to take things forward. Credit to Steve and his team, they played superbly. Not a very responsive pitch and that makes things harder. We exhausted every option and the pitch didn't help us at all,"

The Barmy Army sang 'Happy Birthday' from the galleries to the England captain in the middle of the match. After the match, birthday boy Joe Root said, "Throughout the five days we had tremendous support from the Barmy Army. We have the best fans in the world,"

Root admired his team's comeback and also spoke about the Aussie captain. He said, "He's(Smith) certainly playing well and it is very difficult to get him out on a wicket like this. Hopefully we can get in different plans for him for Sydney.

"It is frustrating that it has taken this long to get a performance such as this one. It could've been a lot easier coming in 3-0 and looking lost. But I am proud of the boys and the performance they have put in."