Australia beat England in Ashes first Test thriller

Wednesday, 21 June 2023 00:38 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

BBC: Australia somehow prevailed from another Edgbaston Ashes classic to beat England by two wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

On a final day fraught with tension, ninth-wicket pair Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon added an unbroken 55 to defy the raucous crowd and get Australia to their target of 281.

In doing so, they extracted revenge for Australia’s famous two-run defeat on this ground 18 years ago, when the tail enders just fell short of reaching a target of 282.

It is Australia’s narrowest Ashes win in terms of wickets since 1907 and their fourth successive win in the first Test of an Ashes series.

England looked to be surging towards victory when captain Ben Stokes produced a magical slower ball to bowl Usman Khawaja for 65 and Joe Root held a stunning return catch off Alex Carey.

But as a breathless match entered its final hour, Cummins and Lyon swung the bat at England’s short-ball plan to inch Australia closer. Stokes almost dismissed Lyon with a flying catch for the ages when 37 were still required, the captain losing control of the ball as he dived backwards at square leg.

The target ticked down, the evening drew in. With three runs required and less than five overs remaining, Cummins deflected Ollie Robinson towards third man, a diving Harry Brook fumbled and Australia had an incredible victory.

A series that has already lived up to the hype continues with the second Test at Lord’s on 28 June.

The new ball was belatedly taken, but Australia’s confidence grew. For every time the outside edge was beaten, a single was pinched. Cummins slapped Robinson past a flying Ollie Pope at cover, Lyon twice belted Stuart Broad down the ground for fours.

The outside edge was beaten, England kept the field back, James Anderson was ignored. Australia were within one hit of victory for more than two overs.

With three required, Cummins fended off a short ball and the flailing Brook could not prevent the boundary. Australia ended on 282 - their target back in 2005 - and the brilliant Cummins threw his bat in the air to begin wild celebrations.

England had lost two of their past 12 Tests and one of those, against New Zealand in Wellington in February, was by just one run after they had made the Black Caps follow on.

Chief Scores: England 393-8 dec (Root 118*; Lyon 4-149) & 273 (Root 46, Brook 46; Cummins 4-63, Lyon 4-80)

Australia 386 (Khawaja 141, Broad 3-68, Robinson 3-55) & 282-8 (Khawaja 65, Cummins 44*)

Australia won by two wickets