Watch: Cummins hits winning runs to spark wild celebrations as AUS seal Ashes opener vs ENG; Smith and Co. in euphoria
Pat Cummins scored the winning runs in the last hour of the final day as Australia outclassed England to take a 1-0 lead in the Ashes 2023 at Edgbaston.
After five days of world-class Test cricket, it was ecstasy for Australia and heartbreak for England at Edgbaston. Pridefully endorsing the ‘Bazball’ style of playing the longest format of the game, Ben Stokes' England came up short against a resilient Australian side as Pat Cummins and Co. outclassed the hosts in the 1st Test of the high-profile Ashes 2023 at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
Batting Australia to a thrilling win, pace ace Cummins played a match-winning knock to help the visitors register a 2-wicket win over England. Cummins, who bagged four wickets in the 2nd innings for the Baggy Greens, remained unbeaten on 44 to seal Australia's famous win at Edgbaston. The star pacer scored the winning runs for the newly crowned ICC World Test Championship (WTC) winners to spark wild celebrations at the Aussie camp.
Throwing off his helmet, Cummins tossed his bat and lifted teammate Nathan Lyon after smashing a boundary to seal the Ashes opener in Birmingham. Australia successfully chased down a challenging total of 281 to take a 1-0 lead in the bilateral Test series between the arch-rivals. While Cummins played the role of a finisher with the bat, opener Usman Khawaja top-scored for the visitors in both innings to win the Player of the Match award.
Talking more about the match, Cummins went wicketless in the 1st innings as England posted 393-8 d in 78 overs. Riding on Khawaja's brilliant knock of 141, Cummins' Australia scored 386 in its first essay at Edgbaston. Delivering the goods with the ball in the 2nd innings, pacer Cummins shared eight wickets with Lyon to bowl out England for 273 in 66.2 overs. The Aussie Test captain then played a sublime knock of 44* to guide the WTC winners to a famous win. Cummins scored the winning runs in the last hour of the final day.
The Aussie captain stitched a match-altering partnership of 55 with Lyon (16*) for the ninth wicket at Edgbaston. "One of the beauties of this series is the totally contrasting styles," Cummins said after the match. "We both played to our strengths. You don't necessarily know which style is better but it makes for good entertainment," the Australian skipper added.
