An exciting five day match in Birmingham came to an end as Australia secured a two wicket victory over the rival team, England.
The match began looking good for Australia with opening batsman Usman Khawaja setting course to a win before Ben Stokes came to bowl and captured Khawaja’s wicket at 65. Still, the batsman secured the title of “player of the match” and his captain said about him:
“Incredible composure, he played his own method, didn’t get caught up… I’m really happy for him.”
The visiting team was playing on a rain-delayed match day on a 107-3 score which was soon reduced to a 227-8, with the target being set at a 281 to win. Chances began looking futile before Australia team captain Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon fired back and got the win for their team, Cummins hitting the final boundary because of a fumble by Harry Brook.
The victory sets Australia on a 1-0 advantage for the remaining four matches and became the second highest successful victory chase at Edgbaston.
Cummins said about this:
“I honestly felt pretty good when I came to the wicket because the pitch didn’t have any demons in it. Both teams spoke a lot about playing your own style. And that’s the beauty of this series. Two contrasting styles, playing to our strengths and that made for great entertainment.”
Ben Stokes, opposing captain, remarks:
“It was a rollercoaster with ups and downs and a game we will never forget. We stuck to our guns on how we would operate and carried on from the last series we played.”
“We are going to continue to keep coming at Australia.”
