The first Ashes 2023 test between England and Australia lived up to its hype as it had all sorts of thrill and drama as cricket fans had expected. Australian skipper Pat Cummins led his team to an iconic finish along with Nathan Lyon as they chased down the target with 2 wickets in hand.
Australia had lost three wickets in the last session of Day 4 which allowed England to get the dominant position in the first Ashes 2023 test. Their key batters Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne couldn’t score big as Australia were reduced to a total of 107-3 and needed 174 more runs to win after bowling England out for 273 runs.
Pat Cummins partners with Nathan Lyon to grab victory in the first Ashes 2023 test
Rain played the spoilsport in the first session of Day 5 in Birmingham, with a maximum of 67 overs remaining, England needed seven wickets to win while Australia required 174 runs. Usman Khawaja, who was the star of the first innings, played the role of the anchor in the second innings as well.
Australia lost the wicket of night watchman Scott Boland quite early after which Travis Head lost his wicket against Moeen Ali after getting a start. Ollie Robinson got rid of the dangerous Cameron Green after which England were looking confident of getting the victory.
Skipper Ben Stokes dismissed well-set Usman Khawaja and then Joe Root took the wicket of Alex Carey bringing the English side into the driver’s seat. The Aussie side needed 54 runs to win with Cummins and Nathan Lyon at the crease and Josh Hazlewood to follow.
Pat Cummins took the initiative and hit Root for two sixes in an over to bring the required runs down to 37. Nathan Lyon too kept ticking the scoreboard over as the Australian side inched closer to the target.
Skipper Cummins and Lyon showed nerves of steel to keep finding runs against all English bowlers. In the 93rd over, Cummins smashed a boundary towards the third-man region against Ollie Robinson as Australia defeated England by 2 wickets in the nail-biting first Ashes 2023 test.
The iconic finish this match deserved 🤌
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) June 20, 2023
📹 | Relive the winning moment from an exhilarating 1st Test in #TheAshes 🤩#SonySportsNetwork #RivalsForever #ENGvAUS #Ashes2023 pic.twitter.com/qTQ9RiWGQg
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Pat Cummins remained unbeaten after scoring a crucial 73-ball 44 while Nathan Lyon too played a vital cameo of 16 runs. Opening batter Usman Khawaja who scored 141 runs in the first innings and 65 runs in the second innings was declared as the Player of the Match.