Ashes 2019: Lyon king roars in epic Ashes victory
Australia pull off a Test victory for the ages, beating England by 251 runs in the first match of the series | WATCH
Australia have pulled off a Test victory for the ages, beating England by 251 runs in the first match of the Ashes series at Edgbaston early today.
To win by that much after being 8-122 on the first day is remarkable. To win when the home side has a lead of 90 on the first innings is equally impressive.
To take that momentum into the second Test at Lord’s will give the Australian side the belief it can do what no other has done since 2001: win cricket’s oldest trophy on English soil.
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Nathan Lyon was the chief destroyer on day five. The 31-year-old is at the top of his game and proved it by bowling his side to victory, taking 6-49 and narrowly missing a hat-trick.
The off spinner brought up his 350th wicket and is within touching distance of Dennis Lillee’s 355.
It will be a remarkable achievement for a bowler who in the early phases of his career seemed to be in the side only because the selectors could not find anyone else.
He is only the fourth Australian bowler to reach the 350 mark.
“Nathan bowled superbly but our three quicks took a lot of pressure off him at the other end as well,” skipper Tim Paine said.
“We thought we could improve on our first-innings performance with the ball. All those guys are world-class performers. This morning all four of them were sensational.
“We know every Test we play in England, the crowd will be against us. I thought the guys handled themselves really well and we’ve come out on top.”
England captain Joe Root described England’s defeat as “bitterly disappointing”.
“It does hurt. It is bitterly disappointing,” he said. “We played really good cricket in the majority of the Test match. Credit to Australia. They fought hard to get back in it.
“(Steve Smith played) two brilliant innings. We have to keep working hard to get him out. Obviously it was hard that we lost Jimmy (Anderson) early on. These things happen.
“We have to take it on the chin and come back hard at Lords.”
Fast bowler Pat Cummins took the first wicket of the day and brought up the 100th of his career as England’s batsmen proved incapable of handling his guile or the pressure of the situation.
Cummins finished with 4-32 after wrapping up the match, dismissing Chris Woakes, caught at slip by Steve Smith.
Australia had not won a Test at Edgbaston since 2001 and looked little chance of winning this one when it collapsed on the first day.
The victory had been constructed around two centuries that will live long in the lore of the game.
Smith’s 144 and 142 in his first match back since being banished for his role in the South African scandal were critical to rescuing his side in the first innings and establishing an impregnable position in the second.
His batting won him the man-of-the-match award, redemption at home and the respect of the cricket community in England.
“It feels pretty special, winning the first Test in England is really special,” Smith told BBC’s Test Match Special.
It feels great, I’m loving being back playing cricket for Australia, doing what I love and contributing to wins.
“To score two hundreds in a match — the first time I’ve done that in any form of cricket in my life — is very special and I’m very proud.”
Paine praised the former skipper’s performance.
“I thought we were certainly up against it at that stage (8-122) but we had the best player in the world at the crease,” Paine said.
“Steve showed his class in both innings. We’re running out of things to say about Smithy. He’s probably the best Test batsman we’ve ever seen. We’re lucky to witness it.”
Every day this week Smith’s features have been plastered over the pages of the newspapers. Whereas 16 months ago, it was Smith’s face tortured by torment after the Cape Town incident, in recent days it has been with bat raised beside headlines asking what could be done to dismiss him.
Smith’s 24th and 25th centuries leave him with an average of 62.96, second only to Don Bradman.
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