Ashish Ranjan
At Edgbaston, after five days of world-class Test cricket, it was exhilaration for Australia and despair for England. Pat Cummins and Co. outclassed Ben Stokes’ England in the first Test of the prestigious Ashes 2023 at Edgbaston on Tuesday, despite the fact that England proudly embraced the ‘Bazball’ method of playing the longest format of the game.
Pace ace Cummins batted Australia to an exhilarating victory and contributed to the visitors’ two-wicket victory over England. Cummins, who took four wickets for the Baggy Greens in their second innings, remained unbeaten on 44 to secure Australia’s historic victory at Edgbaston. The celebrated fast bowler scored the winning runs for the newly crowned ICC World Test Championship (WTC) champions, sparking chaotic celebrations in the Australian camp.
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Cummins removed his helmet, threw his bat, and lifted teammate Nathan Lyon after smashing a boundary in Birmingham to secure the Ashes opener. Australia took a 1-0 advantage in the bilateral Test series between the archrivals after successfully chasing down a difficult total of 281. While Cummins played the role of a finisher with the bat, the Player of the Match award went to Usman Khawaja, who scored the most runs for the visitors in both innings.
In the first innings of the contest, Cummins did not take a wicket as England scored 393 runs without loss in 78 overs. Cummins’ Australia scored 386 in its first innings at Edgbaston, aided by Khawaja’s magnificent knock of 141.
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With eight wickets each, Cummins and Lyon bowled England out for 273 runs in 66.2 overs in their second innings, with Cummins contributing seven. The Australian Test captain then scored 44 runs not out to lead the WTC champions to a historic victory. In the final hour of the final day, Cummins scored the game-winning runs.
At Edgbaston, the Australian captain forged a match-changing 55-run partnership with Lyon (16*) for the ninth wicket. After the match, Cummins remarked, “One of the best aspects of this series is the contrasting styles.” “We played to our respective talents. You don’t particularly know which style is superior, but both are entertaining,” added the Australian captain.
