This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
Canada: 
Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
England surrendered on the final day of the first Ashes Test, giving Australia a crushing 251-run win and a 1-0 lead in the series.
Needing to bat out the day to earn a draw – chasing 398 to win was never in the offing – England at one stage lost six wickets for 37 runs on the way to being bowled out for 146 at Edgbaston.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon took advantage of the worn pitch to claim 6-49, while paceman Pat Cummins picked up 4-32 as the tourists surged to victory just before tea.
It puts them ahead in an Ashes series in the UK for the first time in 14 years.
England can rightly point to the fact they have been without pace bowler James Anderson for almost the whole game – he pulled up with a recurrence of a calf injury after bowling only four overs on the first morning.
However, the wisdom of selecting Anderson in the first place can be questioned, while the hosts will also rue a collapse of 4-18 on the third morning, some curious tactics on the fourth day and an awful shot by Jason Roy that began the final-day slump from 60-1.
In truth, though, this match will be remembered for the brilliance of Australia batsman Steve Smith, whose twin centuries rescued his side from 122-8 in the first innings and again from a deficit of 15 runs when three wickets down in the second.
England have their own problems to address before the second Test at Lord's begins next Wednesday, but none are as big as what to do about Smith.
Edgbaston day five
Australia 284 (Smith 144, Broad 5-86) & 487-7 dec (Smith 142, Wade 110)
England 374 (Burns 133) & 146 (Woakes 37, Lyon 6-49)
Australia won by 251 runs; go 1-0 up in five-match series
Be the first to comment