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Former Australia captain Mark Taylor opined that Australia's dramatic win in the Ashes opener was one of their greatest Test victories in England.
On Tuesday, June 20, Pat Cummins and his men edged out England in the thrilling first Ashes Test match at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Australia chased 281 with the ninth-wicket pair of Cummins and Nathan Lyon adding 55 runs in their unbroken partnership to stun the hosts.
The duo held their nerves to take the visitors past the finish line with 4.3 overs to spare on Day 5. Cummins banked on his chances to find boundaries, while Lyon ably supported his skipper with his top-notch defensive batting style to keep England bowlers at bay in the last hour of the game.
Analysing the first Test on Nine's Wide World of Sports, Mark Taylor equated the recent thriller to the 2005 Birmingham Test where Australia lost by two runs while chasing 282. He said:
"That's one of the great victories for Australia in this country, there is no doubt about that. In recent times, we've had this habit of losing that game. Headingley 2019 (and) here (Birmingham) 2005 we lost by two runs. This game had so many characteristics of that game in 2005. Similar scores on day 1 and similar chase on day 5."
"England had their noses maybe their head in front of us" - Mark Taylor
Australia needed 174 runs to win on the final day of the Ashes opener with seven wickets in their hands. Opener Usman Khawaja and nightwatchman Scott Boland resumed the final day with their overnight score of 107/3.
England pacer Stuart Broad dismissed Boland after his brief resistance in the early overs. Later, the injured Moeen Ali got the better of Travis Head for the second time in this Test. Ollie Robinson separated Khawaja and Cameron Green with the latter's removal.
England skipper Ben Stokes forced Khawaja to drag on to his stumps with an impressive leg-cutter. Joe Root returned a sharp one-handed catch to end Alex Carey's intent for a counter-attacking knock.
The hosts couldn't apply the pressure on Cummins and Lyon despite taking the second new ball late in the final session. The Australian tail-enders batted brilliantly to finish the game.
Speaking on which team had the edge over the other in the majority of the thrilling contest, Taylor said:
"I don't think at any stage in this game any side has been massively in front. I think England have had the better of the game probably. I think there was more times that they had their noses maybe their head in front. I think the best we ever got was our nose in front a couple of times."
The former Aussie skipper added:
"Until right at the very end obviously when we got home by two wickets, but we've been playing catch-up from day one. They scored quickly 8 for 393, stuck us in for 20 minutes late on day one, didn't get a wicket but they got wickets early on day 2."
England and Australia will face each other in the second Ashes Test at Lord's on June 28.
