Australia started with a bang by defeating England in the first match of the five-Test series. They won the Edgbaston Test by two wickets to take a 1–0 lead in the Ashes. With this victory, the Kangaroo team avenged the defeat at Edgbaston 18 years ago. In 2005, the Australian team lost the match by a margin of two runs at the same ground. They have now eased that pain by winning by two wickets here.

Australia achieved the target of 281 runs and won the match. He has chased the biggest run in a Test match against England in the last 75 years. Since 1948, he had not been able to achieve such a big target in an Ashes series match. Then he won the match by scoring 404 runs in Leeds.

Australia's biggest run chase in the Ashes series
target australia score field year
404 404/3 Leeds 1948
315 315/6 Adelaide 1902
286 287/5 Melbourne 1929
281 282/8 Birmingham 2023
275 276/4 Sydney 1898

Baseball wind up
Ever since New Zealand's Brendon McCullum became the captain of the England Test team, the English camp has played a new kind of cricket. She wants the result in the match at any cost. She doesn't think about getting the test drawn. Apart from this, English batsmen bat in ODI style. Due to this, the front bowlers did not get a chance to recover. England had won 12 out of 17 Tests but did not win this time. Australia defeated him by playing a Test match not fast but in a traditional way. Veteran batsman Steve Smith had already said that England has certainly performed well against other countries' attacks, but they have not yet faced Australia on this theory. Smith was proved right. Australia has blown away the baseball in the first test, now it has to be seen how Ben Stokes' team will make a comeback.

A unique achievement in the name of Khwaja
Usman Khawaja, who played a key role in helping Australia win this match, achieved a great achievement. He became the man to bat at some point on all five days of the match. Earlier this had happened 12 times in Test history. He became only the second batsman to do so for Australia. Before him, Kim Hughes batted on all five days at Lord's against England in 1980.

Apart from this, Khwaja achieved another feat. He is the first Australian batsman since 1989 to score a century and more than 50 runs in the same Test match in England. The last time Mark Taylor did this. Khawaja played innings of 141 and 65 at Edgbaston. He was adjudged player of the match.

Australian who scored a century and 50+ in the same Test in England
batsman 1st innings 2nd innings field year
Usman Khawaja 141 65 Birmingham 2023
Mark Taylor 136 60 Leeds 1989
Andrew Hilditch 119 80 Leeds 1985
Rick McCosker 51 107 Nottingham 1977
Bill Lawry 74 102 Manchester 1961
Arthur Morris 105 62 Lord's 1948
Warren Bardsley 136 130 The Oval 1909

(pc amarujala)