There was lots of talk about bazball before the start of the mega event. Ben Stokes surprised everyone after he declared on the first day at 393-8 in 78 overs while their premier batter Joe Root was still at the crease on 118 not out. This was a statement of their newly adopted formula called ‘bazball’. It almost worked, but somehow the Aussies managed to clinch the thriller by a whisker. After the classic test innings by Usman Khawaja in in both innings, Australian Captain Pat Cummins and veteran spinner Nathan Lyon probably played their best innings to date and took Australia home.
Bazball Backfired?
England declared in 78 overs – the shortest declared innings on the opening day of an Ashes. Ben Stokes has not any regrets about the decision of declaration, but it surely backfired them. While Joe Root was still on the crease, batting on 118*, England could easily manage another 40 runs and the result could be different. Ben Stokes is still supporting the decision of declaration is proof that currently, the fever of Bazball is high on him and his teammates.
How it all happened:
England won the toss and opted to bat on a sunny morning at Edgbaston and smashed 393 for 8 in 78 overs and declared on the same day. In reply, Australia managed to score 386 runs thanks to a brilliant knock from the opener, Usman Khawaja. He smashed his first hundred on English soil. If we talk about the 2nd innings, England was all out for 273 runs, setting a challenging target of 281 runs. At the end of Day 4 Australia was 107-3 and the match was hanging in balance as the Aussies required 174 more runs on Day 5 to win the match.
Khawaja again batted well in the 2nd innings and made 65 runs in 197-ball. After the gritty knock from Khawaja, the Australian captain Pat Cummins scored a match-winning inning of 44 runs with the help of Nathan Lyon who scored unbeaten 16 runs from 28 balls. With the incredible effort from Cummins and Lyon, Australia had managed to pull off the highest successful run chase in the 4th innings of an Ashes in 75 years.
Brief Scores:
ENG 393/8d (Joe Root: 118*, Bairstow: 78*, Lyon: 4-149 ) & 273 (Joe Root:46, Harry Brook: 46, Cummins: 4-63, Lyon: 4-80) AUS 386 (Usman Khawaja: 141, Alex Carry: 66, Broad: 3-68, Robinson 3-55) & 282/8 (Khawaja: 65,
Cummins: 44, Broad: 3-64)