One of the oldest rivalries in Test cricket history – Ashes, once again lived up to the hype as the first Test match of the ongoing series turned out to be a thrilling encounter in red-ball cricket as it boiled down to the last session of the day with both the teams having a shot at victory. The Pat Cummins-led Australian side chased down a target of 281 runs with just 27 balls remaining to go 1-0up in the five-match Ashes 2023 series.
Pat Cummins Played A Crucial Role In Win Against England
Australian skipper Pat Cummins played an instrumental role in the famous win as he stepped up with the bat and played a crucial knock. With England steadily taking control over the game by taking quick wickets of the Aussies, Cummins stabilized the innings. He played an unbeaten knock of 44 runs and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 55 runs for the ninth wicket with Nathan Lyon (16*) to take his side home in the chase of 281.
Meanwhile, social media has been buzzing with reactions to Australia’s win against England. Amidst all the amazing tweets, an Indian fan highlighted how Cummins wasn’t this happy after winning the WTC Final 2023 as he was after winning the 1st Ashes 2023. He wrote:
“Pat Cummins wasn’t this happy after winning the WTC Final. Ashes is everything for them.”
Check out the Tweet:
Pat Cummins wasn't this happy after winning the WTC final. Ashes is everything for them. pic.twitter.com/WypNGsa5nq
— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) June 20, 2023
Cummins Described The Win As The Pinnacle Of His Test Career
Not just this, after leading his side to a narrow 2-wicket win over England in the Ashes 2023 opener, Australia skipper Pat Cummins described this win against England as the pinnacle of his Test career so far. Cummins recently won the World Test Championship 2023 Final by defeating the Indian cricket team.
Talking about the win against England, Cummins said: “Number one. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Start of an Ashes series. Number one.”
Notably, Australia was at the receiving end of a heartbreaking one-wicket defeat t against England at Headingley and Cummins was relieved to be on the right side this time around. He said:
“Yeah, I would be lying if I said it didn’t (cross my mind). We were on the other side of one in the last series here. When you’re on the other side, it feels like one that’s got away and it really hurts,”
He added: “It’s a really happy dressing room in there. A lot of those guys were there at Headingley, and to clinch one that was perhaps out of our grasp for a little while there is pretty satisfying.”
The Australians were booed for their traditional red-ball strategy. However, the Cummins-led side remained unfazed by the chants of “boring, boring Aussies” from sections of the Edgbaston crowd. Speaking about the atmosphere, Cummins said:
“The fans were pretty noisy out on the hill. Win or lose, we are pretty comfortable with how we go about it.”
He added: “We’ve been really good for the last 20 Test matches over two years… We are at our best when we play at our own pace and tempo,”
The second Test match of the Ashes 2023 will be played at Lord’s from June 28th to July 2nd.
