At the end of a stressful and nerve-wracking final day, Australia was declared the winner. As they chased down 281 to defeat England by two wickets and take a 1-0 lead in this hotly contested Ashes series, the proverbial tortoise and the hare almost held true. These figures don’t really capture the drama.
This was a well-known triumph for Pat Cummins and his world champion team, with the captain emerging as the hero when, at 7:21 p.M., with four overs remaining, Harry Brook fumbled a guide to third man off Ollie Robinson over the rope.
Cummins had ice coursing through his veins and had the brave support of Nathan Lyon. It finished an epic chase that left nerves completely destroyed by reaching 282 for eight from 92.3 overs.
An hour earlier, England was in command, and Ben Stokes, a never-ending source of vigor for his team, was aiming for his team’s 12th victory under his leadership.
Australia was 227 for eight, 54 runs short of their target, after Joe Root managed to hold on to a bullet return catch off Alex Carey’s bat.
The Hollies Stand was in full voice at this point, provoking the tourists and their pockets of supporters with a triumphalism that was practically begging for a red face.
The outcome wasn’t bad, exactly. By no means. In the course of 11 riveting overs played under lights, Cummins and Lyon repelled the second new ball and worked the gaps like a pair of pros, leaving this fifth sellout crowd with a wealth of memories and a final twist to process.
They accomplished their nation’s best run-chasing feat since Cummins delivered the decisive blow on a 310-run target in Johannesburg during his debut 12 years ago. The blue-eyed Blue Mountains boy has done it once more after fifty caps.
Twitter Reactions After Australia’s Win
Well played Australia 👏🏽😅 #Ashes2023 pic.twitter.com/Rq8ykZwJ8L
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 20, 2023
Cumball >>>>> Bazball#Ashes2023pic.twitter.com/e0qd8YxDAR
— Mayur (@133_AT_Hobart) June 21, 2023
Cumball defeat bazball…
— Muth JD 🥳 (@DmkMuth) June 21, 2023
Confidence beat over confidence#Ashes #Ashes2023 #Bazball#Cumball #ENGvAUS #cummins pic.twitter.com/07UJNJ1qzM
Now this is what makes Test Circket stand-out amidst all other sports … A fast bowler wins a game with his batting … take a bow #patcummins !!!👏👏👏
— CA Harsh Mehta (@Harshh28) June 21, 2023
What a start to the #Ashes2023 !
Credit to @englandcricket for fielding their hearts out and not letting it slip away easily ! pic.twitter.com/SoDwCcXOU7
#Ashes #Ashes2023 #ENGvAUS
— 👑👌🌟 (@superking1816) June 21, 2023
Cumball>>>>> #Bazballpic.twitter.com/pt47lALuqT
How good were Pat Cummins and Australia last evening? 🔥🔥🔥 #Ashes2023 pic.twitter.com/ZVClUxHwiZ
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) June 21, 2023
Overconfidence of Ben Stokes backfired
— 𝐌𝐫. 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐢𝐥 (@Nikhil_memes) June 21, 2023
Hyped #Bazball gets out of the park #Ashes2023 pic.twitter.com/SmWErdPqL7
2011 :Australia chase down 280+ in Tests
— Arnav Singh (@Arnavv43) June 20, 2023
2011 :CSK won IPL
2011 :Pep won Champions League
2011 :Djokovic wins Australian Open
2023 :Australia chase down 280+ in Tests
2023 :CSK won IPL
2023 :Pep won Champions League
2023 :Djokovic wins Australian Open#Ashes2023#AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/hB0lgqSM4k
This time, England’s tiger-like fielding performance, which was a factor in the ground becoming a pressure cooker, was unreflective of the final blow.
With Brook’s fumble opening the valve, Cummins embraced Lyon in a massive bear hug. At 44 and 16 not out, respectively, the pair was the talk of the bouncing away dressing room.
As soon as the match was over, the two teams exchanged handshakes and smiles as everyone could see how this classic Test match ended.
Usman Khawaja was one of them, no doubt eager to raise a glass of ice-cold diet Coke to his lips once more. The player of the match award went to the opener after he followed up his first innings 141 with a similarly solid 65 that kept Australia in the game.
The 36-year-old batted on all five days, faced 518 balls, and spent 796 minutes out in the middle as part of what has grown into a remarkable late crest in his career. All in a heavy cable-knit tank top.
On another day, Khawaja’s passing might have been the event that grabbed the spotlight. Stokes entered the innings at 5:29 p.M. To bowl for the first time because there were no other options available before the second new ball arrived.
Despite having pain in his left knee, he charged to the crease and sent down a quick, slower ball that smacked into the stumps off the inside edge. With Australia at 209 for seven, it seemed like Stokes was once again bending the rules to suit himself.
However, Australia’s use of a nightwatchman the night before, Scott Boland, gave the appearance of a higher wicket total throughout the day. With the score at 107 for three and 174 runs needed in 67 overs, Boland and Khawaja walked out at 2:15 after morning rain.
It was soon obvious that Australia would send their home-country fans into a delirious state due to lack of sleep.
Only 13 runs from the bat were used to reach the target in the first hour, and Stuart Broad dismissed Boland for his third wicket of the innings.
Australia’s 143 for five did not accurately reflect the depth to come when Moeen Ali received the ball in the 15th over of this first session and bowled the typically aggressive Travis Head for 16 with a ball that gripped and found the left-hander’s edge.
A burst blister on his spinning finger left Moeen a passenger in the show overall, but it was a fine delivery in an otherwise dejected performance.
Stokes would have been able to turn to a spinner with the best fourth-innings strike-rate of any to claim more than 50 wickets had the skin on that digit been hard and resilient from regular first-class cricket rather than red and raw after a 33-over first innings straight out of Test retirement.
To say that this England team will regret sending a SOS to Moeen would be untrue given that they don’t seem to have a history of doing so.
In a similar vein, they will not be going back on the choice to reinstate Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps for the second Test at Lord’s on Wednesday, even though three missed opportunities in Australia’s first innings and an edge off Khawaja that flew between the keeper and first slip late on day four proved costly.
Unrepentant Stokes said, “That day one declaration, all part of the entertainment.”
The dramatic removal of Cameron Green for 28 on this final day by Robinson, the tension that grew as Australia refused to take on Root’s bowling, or Stokes’ spectacular one-handed effort in the deep off Lyon that popped out of his grasp were just a few examples.
It would have been significant given that there were still 36 runs to be scored and Josh Hazlewood was slated to come in at No. 11.
Currently, England is up against an Australian team that is ready to put out fire with ice and a captain in Cummins who embodies this approach.
The only other time the difference was greater was in Melbourne in 1904 when England (2.30) defeated Australia (3.81) and the tourists scored at 3.2 runs per over to the home team’s 4.61.
This culturally charged Ashes series is off to an amazing start as the tortoises lead 1-0.
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