Australia beat England by two wickets to win 1st Test

21 June 2023 01:12 am - 7 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Australia beat England by two wickets to win a thrilling first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Australia were struggling at 227-8, still 54 runs shy of a victory target of 281, when skipper Pat Cummins was joined in the middle by tailender Nathan Lyon.

But the pair's unbroken stand of 55 saw Ashes holders Australia home, with Cummins hitting the winning boundary to finish on 44 not out after opener Usman Khawaja had made a painstaking 65 to follow his first-innings 141.

Lyon was unbeaten on 16, with Australia now 1-0 up in this five-match series as they bid for a first Ashes campaign triumph on English soil in 22 years.

"The wicket didn't have too many demons in it," said Cummins at the presentation ceremony. "I thought it was well within our grasp."

World Test champions Australia, as they promised beforehand, played in their traditional fashion rather than getting drawn into the hype surrounding England's aggressive style under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.

And Cummins praised player of the match Khawaja by saying: "Incredible composure, he played his own method, didn't get caught up... I'm really happy for him."

This was just England's third defeat in 14 Tests under Stokes and McCullum, with the skipper defending his first-innings declaration before the close of the opening day.

"I thought that was a time to pounce. I am not going to change the way I have gone about my cricket because it is the Ashes," he said.

"Who knows, we could have got an extra 40 runs or lost two wickets in two balls. I am not a captain who gets by on what ifs."

Brief scores:

England 393-8 dec (J Root 118 no, J Bairstow 78, Z Crawley 61; N Lyon 4-149) and 273 (P Cummins 4-63, N Lyon 4-80)

Australia 386 (U Khawaja 141, A Carey 66, T Head 50; O Robinson 3-55, S Broad 3-68) and 282-8 (U Khawaja 65; S Broad 3-64)

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Comments - 7

Jude Wednesday, 21 June 2023 01:43 AM

Hey Dasun Shanaka, make note how Aussie skipper Pat Cummins sealed the empathetic win. Now that's a captain's knock coming to the crease when needed 72 runs to win and 3 wickets in hand he scored marvelous unbeaten 44 runs. Kudos to Pat Cummins!! Mind you he took few blows to his body, I guess he took it for the team!!

Jude Wednesday, 21 June 2023 01:54 AM

In this Test match England captain Stokes Made an dumb move to declare first innings at 393 just 20 minutes before close of play on the first day. And Joe Root was unbeaten at 118 he should've allowed the innings to continue to reach at least 450 runs and Root capable of reaching that figure. It wasn't a situation that two tailenders batting. The declaration cost the game for the Englishmen, YEAH

Jude Wednesday, 21 June 2023 04:02 AM

The Aussies playing as a team!! Their bowling not strong however The batting is the strong suit, but except Khawaja rest of the batsmen didn't do well in this Test. However, Aussies playing as a team that's why they win matches!!

S.F. Leg Wednesday, 21 June 2023 06:26 AM

Why Australia does better in cricket? In Australia there are over 100 schools playing cricket at a serious level and a very good Cricket Academy and but Australia only has 6 First Division Teams and it has a clean Cricket Board. Sri Lanka has fewer than 10 Schools playing serious cricket but has 26 First Division Teams and highly corrupt SLC.

Andrew Silva Wednesday, 21 June 2023 06:55 AM

Well the English team under estimated the Australian resolve. First they declared the innings with no reasonable explanation and second their attitude in the field was lack lustre.

DOT Wednesday, 21 June 2023 07:38 AM

Great competition! Great ccaptaincy by Pat Cummins. Leading from front. Change the culture of slagging.

cricket fan Wednesday, 21 June 2023 09:24 AM

This England cricket team has come a long way since being white washed in the Ashes 4-0 by Australia only last year. Thanks to Brendon McCallum the former cricket captain and dashing opening batsman of NZ the current coach of England and former Kiwis Ben Stokes the current captain of England and also Australian bowling coach David Saker for the tremendous transformation of this team into a champion side losing to Australia in a very close finish. Thanks to Australian capain Pat Cummins who eventually won the game for the Aussies with a fighting innings with the bat .

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Australia beat England by two wickets to win 1st Test

Comments - 7

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