The Ashes: Australia defeats England by nine wickets in the first Test

Brisbane: On Day 4, Australia beat Joe Root’s England by nine wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match Ashes series.
Following a problematic Day 3 in which Joe Root and Dawid Malan demonstrated grit and perseverance in bringing England back into the match after conceding a sizeable first-innings deficit, Australia came out strong on the fourth morning, bowling England out for 297, with the last eight wickets falling for 77 runs.
Australia, needing only 20 points to win, raced to the target early in the second session to take a 1-0 lead.
After resuming from 220/2 in 70 overs, England lost their first wicket of the day, with Malan hitting a bat-pad catch to Marnus Labuschagne at silly mid-off for Nathan Lyon’s 400th Test wicket, ending the 162-run partnership. Lyon became the 17th bowler to achieve the feat, and the third Australian, following Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.
Lyon got his 401st wicket in a matter of minutes, dismissing Ollie Pope, who gloved a catch to first slip, for four runs after an agonising wait of 326 days.
However, the most crucial wicket of the day was sandwiched between Lyon’s double-blow. Cameron Green, who came on before the new ball, forced England skipper Joe Root into a false shot on 89, with Alex Carey taking one of his eight catches in his first Test.
Carey’s eight catches are a Test debut record, and he was excellent behind the stumps, supporting Australia’s quicks, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc. They provided little respite, according to ICC-cricket.
Root fell 11 points shy of his first Test century in Australia. His dismissal precipitated a collapse from which England never recovered, despite attempts by Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes to resurrect the innings.
The focus now shifts to the second Test, which begins on December 16 at the Adelaide Oval, for the day-night affair with the pink ball.
Brief scorecard
England 147 & 297 in 103 overs (Joe Root 89, Dawid Malan 82; Pat Cummins 2/51, Mitchell Starc 1/77; Nathan Lyon 4/91, Cameron Green 2/23) lost by nine wickets to Australia 425 & 20/1 in 5.1 overs (Marcus Harris 9 not out, Ollie Robinson 1/13).