Australia won the bragging rights in the first Ashes Test as they secured a comfortable nine-wicket win against England. After thrilling three days of cricket it was Nathan Lyon and his men who did the damage on Saturday morning to restrict England to 297.
Nathan Lyon marks landmark moment by wrapping the English tale
From the overnight score of 220/2, England could hardly trouble the scorers adding just 77 more runs to the total. Captain Joe Root who had a glorious year so far, only added three more runs to his tally. On the other hand, Dawid Malan became the first victim of the day as he was dismissed by Lyon on 82. The pair of Root and Malan put together a partnership of 162 runs.
Lyon on the other hand, was writing a script of his own as he became just the third man in the history of Test cricket from Australia to pick 400 wickets. The spinner went on to pick up three more wickets to dismantle the English batting lineup. The likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Butler and Chris Woakes were the only batsmen to get into double figures as Root’s men almost voluntarily surrendered.
Chasing 20 it took only 31 balls for Australia to register the first win of the Ashes series. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey was the only player to be dismissed before the target was achieved. Carey departed for nine while Marcus Harris scored the winning boundary remaining unbeaten on nine.
Mistakes in first innings haunt England
England can only blame their own batsmen as they were dismantled in the first innings after managing to secure a mere total of 147 on the board. After a complete collapse of the top order, the team was struggling at 60/5 and were humiliated by the pace attack of captain Pat Cummins (five wickets), Mitchell Starc (two wickets) and Josh Hazelwood (two wickets).
Warner's injury concerns team management; work to do for England in Adelaide
Australia’s response on the other hand was rock-solid as they scored 425 in their first innings, thanks to a sensational hundred from returning hero Travis Head who managed to seal his berth in the squad with152. David Warner also set the tone by scoring 94 in the first innings but the 35-year old's injury will be a concern for the team management as the left-handed batter didn’t come to bat in the second innings.
With this defeat England still remain winless on Australian soil. English side will now have to stretch back to January 2011 for their last win Down Under. This defeat at the Gabba means that England could not win at the iconic venue of Brisbane since 1986. The Test will also go down with a stroke of controversy as all-rounder Ben Stokes bowled 14 no-balls in an innings.
This win helps the Australia side to be with 12 points on the World Test Championship (WTC) standings as they bid for a place in the final of 2023. Travis Head was adjudged ‘Man of the Match' for his 152-run knock in the first innings. The next Ashes Test will be played on December 16 at the Adelaide Oval with the home side in full swing.
