Joe Root, bowlers powers England to beat Aussies in the first Ashes test

Joe Root, bowlers powers England to beat Aussies in the first Ashes test: Australia suffered a big defeat in the first Ashes Test after losing all the 10 wickets on the 4th days in Cardiff. English bowlers were charged up to defend the 412 runs mountain as the hosts hurried through the Australian batting line-up in the third session.

The Aussies were all out for 242 late on day four, with Joe Root taking the winning catch to dismiss Josh Hazlewood off the bowling of Moeen Ali and seal a 169-run win. It could have been even worse unless for the spirited knock from Mitchell Johnson, who made 77 from just 94 balls.

However the damage was done much earlier than that, during a crazy period before and after the lunch break when Australia lost five wickets for 25 runs.

Broad and Anderson set the tone early on as Broad had Warner in all sorts of troubles with his probing line. Warner survived that but Rogers didn’t lose out on the chance to make a world record eight fifties in a row in Tests. The crucial blow was struck by Moeen just before lunch when he trapped Warner in front.

After lunch Stuart Broad picked up the wickets of Steve Smith (33) and Michael Clarke (4) in quick succession, before Mark Wood got in on the fun by having Adam Voges caught behind for 1 and Brad Haddin was then dismissed for 7 as skipper Alastair Cook took a sharp catch off the bowling of Moeen Ali.

Any hope the tourists had of staving off defeat disappeared when Shane Watson was dismissed by Mark Wood for 19, once again trapped LBW and given his marching orders despite calling for a review. It was Watson’s eighth failed LBW review in Ashes cricket.

Though left-arm pacers Mitchell Johnson (77) and Mitchell Starc (17) tried their bit to hold England from victory to form a 72 run partnership for ninth wicket, they could not avert the loss. Clearly Johnson was the dominating partner which saw him thrash English bowlers for 9 fours and 2 sixes in his innings of 77.

The two Mitchell’s were dismissed by part-timer Joe Root who continued to cherish the game with both bat and ball. Josh Hazlewood was the last man to go as the hosts took 1-0 lead in First Ashes match. Hazlewood was dismissed by Ali as the Aussie pacer hit it straight in Joe Root’s palm to complete a thrilling win for the home team.

Joe Root was declared Man of the Match for his 194 runs in the match including 134 in the first innings. He also took two late wickets in the last innings of the match.

Brief Score:

England- 430 (Root 134; Mitchell Starc 5-114) and

289 (Root 60; Nathan Lyon 4-75) win by 169 runs.

Australia- 308 (Chris Rogers 95; James Anderson 3-43) and

242 all out (Johnson 77; Stuart Broad 3-39)