Cricket

Smith’s brilliance seals the win for Australia in first Ashes encounter

If it’s the very rare victory away from home by a test side you long to see in this era of home bullying, you’d have been treated to one of the best if you watched the first Ashes test live at Edgbaston. For the first time since 1993, we’ve seen the first test of the Ashes being won by the away side – the first time since the Gooch-Border titans wrestled for glory at the Old Trafford. A 251 run victory for Australia, the sides may not have been composed of as big a names as the ’93 ones but it was certainly amazing to see good quality cricket being played with solid defenses coupled with aggressive bowling.

The first inning kicked off with three wickets falling in quick succession for Australia after deciding to bat first after winning the toss, worrying about chasing in 4th inning on a wicket that already looked troublesome. The biggest win for Australia in the first session was the calf injury to Anderson ruling him out from bowling for at least the rest of the inning which later turned out to be the entire match. A partnership of 64 steadied the ship for Australia before Travis Head fell trapped in front of the stumps to Woakes and Australia losing 5 wickets for 23 runs. At first glance, it just looked like Steve Smith versus England. And wouldn’t be unfair to say that it was exactly that. At 8 wickets down for 122, it looked game over for Australia on the first day. No one would have imagined what was to come. Stranded on 42 at the time, along with Siddle and Lyon, Smith put on 88 and 74 for the 9th and 10th wickets respectively. Broad took his 17th 5-fer in an inning, Woakes with 3 and Stokes and Ali with 1 each. 284 the total, Australia still had to bowl well.  In an inning personified by luck, Rory Burns brought up his maiden test century to steer England to a 90-run lead in the first inning. 3 apiece for Cummins and Lyon and 2 each for Siddle and Pattinson.

Smith could’ve been made a man of the match for his first-inning effort alone, but as we’ve seen in the past, it’s more than the individual records that matter for the Aussie ‘Roos. A historic test stamped by his brilliance as he became the 8th man in Ashes history to complete the doublet; a century in both innings, that too playing his first test match in over a year in conditions very lethal for batting. He made sure Australia got into a good position before nicking one to Bairstow of the widest ball he faced off of Woakes in the inning. He made 142, while the Tasmanian wicketkeeper, Matthew Wade, playing as a specialist batsman, made his highest score in test matches, a quick 110 and with the efforts of the quicks down the order, Australia declared the inning at 487 for 7 and left them with 398 to get in about 97 overs. They played out the 7 overs in the 4th day and with a mammoth task ahead of them on a raging turner, it was only a matter of time.

With the highest score of 37 and that from lower down the order by Woakes, Australia sealed a historic win in Birmingham before the end of the second session of the last day, after a rare step into the 5th day in England. Lyon picked up 6, finishing with match figures of 9 for 161 while completing 350 test match wickets and Cummins ended up with match figures of 7 for 116, completing his milestone of 100 test wickets. A bit of a Lee-Warne tribute to finish a historic day in test cricket and a lot to look forward to in the series. Will we see an Ashes triumph down under for the first time since England did it in the 2010 Ashes? Australia came close the last time they visited England but even though they haven’t done it since 2001, it’s certainly on the cards and it would be the best way to kick off the maiden World Test Championship as we transition to a new era of cricket.