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Tag: Edgbaston

  • Ashes 2023: Usman Khawaja neutralizes ‘Bazball’ as Australia beat England by 2 wickets at Edgbaston

    By Rounaq Sehrawat: A masterclass in Test batting from Usman Khawaja and a heroic knock from captain Pat Cummins on the ultimate day guided Australia to an exciting two-wicket win over England at Edgbaston. Australia chased down a 281-run goal with simply 27 balls remaining to go 1-0 up within the five-match Ashes 2023 sequence.

    Ashes 2023: Full Coverage

    Australia began Day 5 at 107 for 3 after rain performed spoilsport as soon as once more and delayed the beginning of play, washing out the primary session solely.

    England pacer Stuart Broad, picked up the place he left off on Day 4, and offered the primary breakthrough for his facet on Day 5, dismissing Australia’s nightwatchman Scott Boland. The in-form Travis Head was the following batter in, however might solely rating 16 runs earlier than being dismissed by spin-bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali within the forty fifth over.

    Khawaja then stitched an necessary 49-run stand with Cameron Green and went on to finish his twenty second half-century in Test cricket. However, Green couldn’t assist the Aussie opener for lengthy, dragging an Ollie Robinson supply onto his stumps. Green departed after scoring 28 runs off 66 balls, hitting two boundaries.

    England captain Ben Stokes offered the all-important breakthrough for his facet within the 72nd over, sending Khawaja again to the pavilion after he chopped a good-length supply onto the stumps.

    It was a tense affair from then on as Australia seemed to extend the scoring-rate whereas additionally being cautious with simply three wickets remaining. With Stokes at one finish and Root on the opposite, England tried to place the Aussie batters below stress and it lastly paid off when Alex Carey stepped out to smash Root for a six however ended up hitting it straight at him, who held on to a superb catch to deal a near-fatal blow to Australia.

    Stokes arms Australia a lifeline

    Just when it appeared just like the match was firmly in England’s favour, Cummins hammered Root for 2 sixes within the 83rd over to convey the required goal all the way down to 37 runs off 14 overs. In the very subsequent over, Stokes dropped a simple catch to offer Nathan Lyon and Australia a lifeline.

    Following the dropped catch, Australia rose from the ‘ashes’ and went on to chase down the goal with 27 balls and two wickets remaining. Cummins remained unbeaten on 44 off 73 balls, and was ably supported by Lyon, who chipped in with 16 runs off 28 deliveries.

    Earlier within the match, England smashed their approach by Day 1 and, to the shock of many, declared on the identical day after posting 393 for 8 on the scoreboard. In reply, Australia batted by Day 2 and most of Day 3, scoring 386 runs on the again of Khawaja’s first hundred on English soil.

    In the second innings, England had been bowled out for 273 runs, setting a 281-run goal for the Baggy Greens to chase. Australia ended Day 4 at 107 for 3, requiring 174 extra runs on Day 5 to win the match.

    Khawaja was Australia’s standout batter all through the course of the primary Test. Incredibly, the 36-year-old batted on all 5 days of the Test match, hitting a century within the first innings, which was his first on English soil, and topped it up with a gritty 197-ball 65 within the second innings.

    Nathan Lyon was Australia’s most-effective bowler, claiming 4 wickets every in each innings. With this efficiency, Lyon additionally grew to become the primary bowler to go previous the 150-wicket mark within the World Test Championships.

    With this win, Australia took a 1-0 lead within the five-match Ashes 2023 sequence with the following match set to be performed at Lord’s on June 28.

  • Ashes: Stuart Broad lashes out at ‘characterless’ and ‘soulless’ Edgbaston pitch on Day 2

    By India Today Sports Desk: England quick bowler Stuart Broad expressed his satisfaction with England’s place on the finish of the second day of the primary Ashes Test match towards Australia at Edgbaston.

    However, Broad additionally criticised the pitch, describing it as one of many slowest he has encountered in his 94 Test matches on residence soil.

    Broad acknowledged that the Edgbaston pitch has been a “nightmare” for quick bowlers. He additionally talked about that it was a “characterless” and “soulless” floor that sapped the power out of the ball. Broad expressed his hope that the gradual pitch at Edgbaston wouldn’t set a pattern for your complete sequence.

    The Englishman identified that the gradual pitch made it tough for the seamers to get plays-and-misses and edges to slide, particularly when dealing with Steve Smith.

    “How can I be polite? It’s a very slow, low surface that saps the energy out of the ball, would be the nice way to put it,” Broad advised the broadcasters. “It’s been pretty characterless so far – a bit soulless. But ultimately you can only judge it towards the end of a Test match and see how it develops.

    “It’s definitely one of many slowest pitches I can keep in mind bowling on in England. I feel there was a stat that, for the Aussies within the first 10 overs, it moved the least-ever recorded. It has definitely been exhausting work for the seamers.

    “Ultimately, we’re looking to entertain and have fun and get the crowd jumping, and it’s quite a difficult pitch to get plays-and-misses on and nicks to slip and stuffâ€æ these sorts of pitches are your worst nightmare when Steve Smith walks to the crease, to be honest.”

    Despite the difficult pitch, Australia ended the day trailing by 82 runs with 5 wickets remaining of their first innings. Usman Khawaja performed an important function by scoring an unbeaten hundred to anchor Australia’s innings all through the day.

  • India-Pakistan cricket match to be “one of the highlights” of CWG 2022: CEO Ian Reid

    As many as 1.2 million tickets have been offered for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games starting on July 28, the organisers have stated, including that the ladies’s cricket match between India and Pakistan has “really caught the interest” of the native public.

    Women’s cricket is making its debut on the Commonwealth Games, and India and Pakistan will likely be clashing at Edgbaston on July 31. The metropolis is house to a considerable variety of Indian and Pakistani-origin individuals.

    Speaking to PTI, Birimgham Games CEO Ian Reid stated the semifinals and closing tickets have already been taken whereas he expects a promote out crowd even for the India-Pakistan fixture.

    “I am a big cricket fan myself. India are in the same group as Pakistan so that has really caught the interest here in Birmingham. It is an iconic venue, your men’s team recently played here over the last few weeks. So it would certainly be one of the highlights of the Games,” Reid stated.

    “The semifinals and final tickets have already been sold out probably with the expectation that India and England will be there. India and Pakistan will be close to capacity. We will see an uptick in sale of tickets much closer to the event. So I expect that India-Pakistan game to be sold out soon.” More than 5000 athletes will participate within the Games which would be the largest sporting occasion within the UK for the reason that London Olympics in 2012.

    “We have sold 1.2 million tickets for the event. We expect that number to go up as we get closer to the Games. So by far the biggest sporting event in the UK since London 2012. “We will have about 45,000 volunteers and paid staff working on the event. It is a huge event for the region and the city,” Reid added.