England clinched the 1st Ashes Test in the most wonderful fashion. This was a perfect Test match. Interesting on all days. At the end of Day 1, Oz were at 75/4 after England were all out for 215. While Australia scored a bit more runs than England, Day 2 ended with England at a slightly better score of 80/2. Day 3 ended with England leading by 259 runs. At the end of Day 4, Australia looked behind at 174/6 chasing a target of 311. Mostly though, you couldn't tell which way the match was going. Right till the end. When England reviewed for the 10th wicket, I was thinking this would be a replay of what we see often, England managing to almost win so Haddin being given out was a huge pleasant surprise for me.

Jimmy Anderson got the Man of the Match award as expected. I think it's wrong to suggest England are relying on one man. Finn, Swann and Broad have all won matches for England. It's too early to say anything like that. Even in this Test, it's not like they didn't perform. Finn and Swann took 2 wickets each in the 1st innings while Broad and Swann took 2 each in the 2nd. By taking Cowan's wicket, Root also showed that he can be brought upon to shake things up like Kevin Pietersen. This wasn't a high scoring game. No team scored 400-500 so you can't blame any bowler. Jimmy didn't leave much to other bowlers.

Haddin and Pattinson deserve to be praised to have taken the game to an exciting finish.

Wickets
James Anderson 10
Siddle 8
Pattinson, Starc 5
Swann 4
Broad 3
Finn, Agar 2
Root 1
Scorecard
England go to Lord's with an advantageous 1-0 lead. The action begins at 11 am local time (10 am GMT) on Thursday, 18th. Exciting time for online cricket betting. See ya.