Australia appeared to be cruising at 62 for no loss before losing three quick wickets as England sniffed an opening. On the last day of his 88-Test career, Khawaja came to the crease with Australia at 92 for 3 just after lunch and still needing 68 runs for victory on a surface playing tricks.

He received a hug from his great mate Marnus Labuschagne and walked through a guard of honour from England’s team. But Khawaja lasted just seven balls and made just 6, knocked over by Josh Tongue, who finished with 3 for 42 from 11 overs and did ensure England fought hard at the end of what has been a wretched tour.

England’s bid for a late heist were slim and made even harder with skipper Ben Stokes – who did take the field – unable to bowl after injuring his right adductor earlier in the match.

Quite typically of this series, there was mayhem at the start of Australia’s chase with three lbw shouts in the first seven deliveries. England did burn a review when Travis Head got an edge to a yorker from Brydon Carse, who shared the new ball with Tongue after Stokes lost faith in Matthew Potts after his nightmare (0 for 141) in Australia’s first innings.

After an edgy start, Head resumed his domination of England and scored quickly without much fuss until the situation exploded in the ember of this series.

England were left aggrieved when their review of an edge against Jake Weatherald on 16 was unsuccessful despite a tiny spike on Snicko. But third umpire Kumar Dharmasena decided there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the decision as Carse engaged in a war of words with Weatherald amid heated scenes.

It loomed as a pivotal moment for Weatherald after a modest start to his Test career. Unruffled by the controversy, Weatherald and Head put the foot down as Australia sped to 57 after ten overs.

Head was in the mood to end things quickly, but on 29 he skied Tongue and was caught at midwicket. It ended Head’s remarkable series after moving up the order in Perth, finishing with 629 runs at 62.90 – the ninth-most by an Australian in an Ashes series.

Weatherald could not kick on and was caught at fine-leg off Tongue in the last over before lunch to ensure there will be plenty of debate over his position in the long break until Australia’s next Test series against Bangladesh in August.

After so much debate in the lead-up, the SCG surface did offer sharp turn in the backend of this match to revive memories of the ground’s traditional characteristics. Skipper Steven Smith was left stunned when he was bowled through the gate by a delivery that spun back sharply from offspinner Will Jacks, bringing Khawaja to the crease.

Jacks was proving a menace and Khawaja was lucky when he edged past Stokes at first slip before playing on to Tongue. Khawaja walked off after receiving another hug from Labuschagne and he performed the Sajdah on the SCG outfield before acknowledging the huge ovation from the fans.

The match suddenly sparked to life when Labuschagne, who was dropped by Jacob Bethell at backward point on 20, was run-out on 38 after a terrible mix-up with Carey. With Australia still needing 39 runs, Green came to the crease under much scrutiny but batted calmly before Carey sealed the victory with a boundary.

It ended a frenetic series that lasted just 18 days and was marred by some sloppy cricket. But Australia proved too experienced and too disciplined for an underprepared England, who did get better as the series wore on. Australia were far from blemishless through the series, with major question marks remaining over their batting order, but standout performances from Head, Carey and Mitchell Starc simply overwhelmed England.

Much like previous matches in this series, England will rue leaving first-innings runs on the table and on this occasion they didn’t capitalise on Joe Root’s brilliant 160.

Khawaja had started the day leading Australia on to the field, with an unknown if he would get the opportunity to bat again. England resumed their second innings at 302 for 8 with a lead of 119 runs as they eyed adding at least another 50 runs to make Australia nervous.

Their hopes rested on Bethell, who restarted on 142 after his magnificent display on day three when he registered his maiden first class century.

With the field well spread, Bethell manipulated the strike and cruised to 150 as Australia patiently waited for the second new ball. Bethell had an anxious moment on 151 when he was rapped on the pads by Scott Boland only to be given a reprieve by DRS when the ball tracker confirmed that it was going over the stumps.

The lead grew to 145 runs, but just when England started to get excited – like countless times this series – their hopes were crushed. Starc, of course, provided the key breakthrough when he finally removed Bethell who feathered an edge after being cramped on the cut. It was Starc’s 30th wicket for the series and the most by an Australian since Mitchell Johnson’s legendary 2013-14 Ashes series when he bagged 37 wickets.

Like several times the day before, the fans provided a rousing ovation to Bethell who trudged off extremely proud but knowing his dismissal had probably effectively ended England’s slim chances.

Having had a horrible time with the ball in his Ashes debut, Potts finally had some cheer when he swatted Boland for consecutive boundaries to get the lead over 150 runs. But Starc again snuffed out England when he removed Tongue and ensured Australia – as was later proven despite the wobbles – had a modest target to chase.

Brief scores:
Australia 567 (Travis Head 163, Steven Smith 138, Beau Webster 71*; Brydon Carse 3-130, Josh Tongue 3-97) and 161 for 5 (Marnus Labuschagne 37, Jake Weatherald 34; Josh Tongue 3-42) beat England 384 (Joe Root 160, Harry Brook 84; Michael Neser 4-60) and 342 (Jacob Bethell 154; Beau  Webster 3-64, Mitchell Starc 3-72) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]