Captain Cummins delivers in “unbelievable” Ashes thriller

Australia’s Pat Cummins celebrates winning the first Ashes cricket Test match against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham - AFP

Under the greatest pressure, Pat Cummins delivered in another Ashes classic at Edgbaston.

Australia’s captain would have received a torrent of criticism for passive tactics in the field had England managed to pick up the two further wickets they needed in a thrilling finish to the first Test.

And with 54 runs still required when Nathan Lyon joined him in the middle, the odds were against Cummins.

But the skipper stood up when it mattered, smiling his way through an innings of the utmost quality, hitting the winning runs to the boundary to finish unbeaten on a match-winning 44*.

“One of the beauties of this series is the totally contrasting styles,” a typically understated Cummins said after his heroics.

 “We both played to our strengths. You don’t necessarily know which style is better but it makes for good entertainment.”

Cummins had been superb with the ball earlier in the Test as he helped restrict England’s second innings. His figures of 4/63 didn’t tell the full story, with Cummins delivering an extended spell of world-class fast bowling to put England under huge pressure.

The perfect inswinging yorker that did for Ollie Pope was one of the highlights of a match packed with thrilling moments, and Cummins stepped up again to remove his opposing skipper just when he was ready to unleash. And Stokes had praise for his Australian counterpart after the game.

“Pat has dug in there and got them over the line,” Stokes said. “But in terms of the output of the game and what people have witnessed, that’s what we’re trying to achieve as a team. “Everyone would have been on the edge of their seat here and everyone at home will have been glued to their TV.

“That’s what we want to be remembered as a team. And that’s the thing about not being a results-driven team.”

Cummins’ efforts weren’t quite enough to earn him the Player of the Match honours, with those going to Usman Khawaja for his first Ashes century in England in the first innings and a crucial 65 in the second to set up the successful chase.

And Khawaja said that it was something special to play in an Ashes Test that will be remembered alongside great matches such as the Edgbaston Test of 2005 and Headingly in 2019.

 “That was an unbelievable game,” the veteran opener said.

 “I watched 2005 at Edgbaston as a youngster on TV, I was there when Stokesy played that unbelievable innings in the last Ashes at Headingley.

 “But this has definitely got to be one of my favourite Test matches I’ve ever played in.

 “We’ve had some hard times here. I know it’s only the first Test, but the ebb and flow, the way England played – it was no one’s Test match until the very end when we won.”