Australia thrashed England by 251 runs to w🃏in t𒅌he first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on Monday.
England, set an imposi💧ng target of 398 to win, collapsed to 97 for 7 in the post-lunch session on the fifth and final day before being bundled out fo💧r 146.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed 6-49 and fast bowler Pat Cummins scalped 4-32 as Australia registered their first 🌼win in all the form♒ats at Edgbaston since 2001.
Also, the defeat for England has ended their run of 11 successive international wins at their Birmingham ‘fortress’.
The match was a personal triumph for Australia’s former skipper Steve Smith, who in his comeback Test since a 12-month ban for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal, scored 144 and 142.
In the process, Smith became just the fifth Australian batsman to score two cen♚turies in an Ashes Test.
His first-innings ton powered Australia 𒐪to 284 after they col🐻lapsed to 122 for 8.
England replied with 374, their first-innings lead of 90 built on a maiden Test century from left-handed opener Rory Burns, who scored 133, and half-centuries from captain Joe Root and vice-ඣcaptain Ben Stokes.
Smith’s second-innings ton and a maiden Ashes century from Matthew Wade allowed visiting captain Tim Paine to declare on 487-7.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Fortress has been breached …. fantastic spell of spin bowling by Mr LYON🦁!! Well done Australia 🇦🇺 for winning the 1st test
— Mithun Manhas (@MithunManhas)
Nathan Lyon, you absolute beauty. St♓eve Smith the game changer. From losing t🦂he WC semis here to winning the 1st Test against England , go on Aussies
— Rajal Arora (@RajalArora)
Absolutely brilliant fᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚrꦺom . Support bowler in the first innings, rises to be matchwinner in the second. Plays both roles so well.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
Fiꦐve and very quickly six wickets for Nathan Lyon!
A wonde🔥rful effort🐽 from him and in the process he has passed 3️⃣5️⃣0️⃣Test wickets for Australia.
— ICC (@ICC)
Winning a test match by 251 runs after being 122/8 in the first innings doesn't happen very often. A remarkable test match for Steve Smith, and well done Nathan Lyon and Cummins.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif)
Fortress breached
— Alison Mitchell (@AlisonMitchell)
Nathan Lyon is killing . Only consolation is for some reason they seem to call him Gary. Can only presume he shat on a wicket 💯somewhere. 🤷🏼♂️
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker)
Superbly played
Well deserved win
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽— atul kasbekar (@atulkasbekar)
Steve Smith, the fulcrum around whom this match turned. Fro꧂m 122/8 to victory by 251 runs.
— Alison Mitchell (@AlisonMitchell)
Aussies too good this Test .. They look very very 🦩well coached & prepared for these conditions .. Unless England find lateral movement this could be a long 6 weeks ..
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan)
Perfect start by the Aussies. Fought back hard after a poor start. Great signs for the rest of the series. Smith 10/10, Lyon impressive and some valuable contributions by everyone else. B🍌ring on Lords!!
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93)
Well played Australia. Credit where credit is due they played brilliantly to get themselves out of ver🔯y difficult positions twice & then go on to win. was simply incredible. Congratulations on coming back to Test cricket in such a way. On to Lords!
— Matt Prior (@MattPrior13)
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