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In partnership with fellow tail-ender Nathan Lyon, captain Cummins struck an unbeaten 44 to give his side a 1-0 lead in the series on Tuesday.
The Sydney Morning Herald said Cummins had been “infected by the spirit of Bazball”, the fearless brand of cricket that has brought England success under coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.”Cummins has shown, both as a captain but also a leader of the team over the past two years, that he is quite capable of taking a punch,” Daniel Brettig wrote in the paper.
His innings was a “late flurry of punches … that might have been inspired by the way his opposite number Stokes had taken control of the Headingley epic in 2019.”
Many Australians stayed up very late to take in the tense final sessions on screens, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who posted his congratulations on social media at 4:30 am (1830 GMT).
“Wow – brilliant win by Aussies – great partnership by Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to bring it home,” he tweeted.
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Cummins the hero as Australia edge England in Ashes thriller
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<p>Australia captain Pat Cummins led his side to a dramatic two-wicket win over England in the first Test at Edgbaston on Tuesday.<br /></p>
<p>The Ashes holders were 209/7, still 72 runs shy of a victory target of 281, when fast bowler Cummins came in to bat after first-innings century-maker Usman Khawaja fell for a painstaking 65.</p>
<p>And after Alex Carey was out to leave Australia 227/8, the tourists still required another 54 more runs with Nathan Lyon the new batsman.<br /></p>
<p>But Cummins-Lyon’s unbroken stand of 55 saw Australia home in a match to rival the tension of England’s two-run win in a celebrated 2005 Ashes clash at Edgbaston.<br /></p>
<p>Cummins, who finished on 44 not out, hit the winning boundary when he edged Ollie Robinson to third man where a diving Harry Brook knocked the ball over the rope.<br /></p>
<p>Lyon, whose missed run out contributed to England’s stunning one-wicket win at Headingley in the drawn 2019 Ashes series in England, was 16 not out.<br /></p>
<p>Victory left World Test champions Australia 1-0 up in the five-match series as they bid for a first Ashes campaign win in England in 22 years.<br /></p>
<p>This was just England’s third defeat in 14 Tests under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.<br /></p>
<p>England were left to rue a series of missed chances throughout the match, none more so than when Lyon was dropped on just two by Stokes at square leg.<br /></p>
<p>After Tuesday’s morning session was washed out by rain, Australia resumed on 107/3 with veteran seamer Broad having removed Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith late on Monday’s fourth day.<br /></p>
<p>But Khawaja was still there on 34 not out as the 36-year-old opener became only the second Australian, after Kim Hughes at Lord’s in 1980, to bat on all five days of a Test.<br /></p>
<p>Australia reached tea at 183/5, but were quickly reduced to 192/6 when Robinson had all-rounder Cameron Green (28) chopping on to end a stand of 49 with Khawaja.<br /></p>
<p>Stokes struck when he had Khawaja, who made 141 in Australia’s first innings, chopping on to end a 197-ball stay.<br /></p>
<p>Cummins, however, reignited Australia’s pursuit by launching Root for two straight sixes before finishing the job himself.<br /></p>
The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief cricket writer Malcolm Conn said Australia could thank Stokes for England’s aggressive day one declaration which gave the tourists time to push for victory even with rain on the final day.
“It was a brilliant test match set up by England’s ultra-attacking approach, but Bazball might be in danger of pushing the boundaries of cricketing common sense too far,” he wrote.
The second Test starts at Lord’s next week.
The Australian’s cricket columnist Gideon Haigh savoured one of the “very best” test matches in Ashes cricket, the game’s oldest and most famous rivalry.
“Where else would you want to be?” he wrote. “Seven sleeps til Lord’s.”
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