Review: Ashes 2015 - England vs. Australia 1st test, Cardiff, 08-12 July 2015

Ashes 2015 - England vs. Australia 1st test, Cardiff, 08-12 July 2015

Result: England won by 169 runs

Wow! What a start to the 2015 Ashes series we have just witnessed. England completed a remarkable win on the fourth day by the very comfortable margin of 169 runs.

Joe Root's incredible innings of 134 was made all the more damaging to Australia since they dropped him early on in a curious lapse from the usually-reliable Haddin. Contributions also came from Ballance, Stokes (in both innings) and Ali, who was particularly impressive in this game. He batted well for 77 in the first innings did not let a few boundaries against his (much-maligned) spin bowling affect him. He kept at it - the Australian batsman saw him as a weak link in England's attack and played some inappropriate shots against his bowling, resulting in match figures of 5-160. This included the important wickets of Smith and Clarke; and Warner in the second innings just before lunch, which was a trigger for their later collapse. 

The other bowlers performed well also, with Jimmy Anderson effective in the first Australian innings and Broad bowling particularly well in the second. Meanwhile, Stokes and Wood also chipped in and did not let the pressure off either. Root was deservedly man of the match, with 194 runs and 2-28. Cook captained well, making some good fielding and bowling changes and keeping the Australian batsmen on their toes, as it were.

Australia were disappointing. They allowed us too many runs in our first innings and fell short in theirs, with Rogers not making a deserved hundred and too many other batsmen getting decent thirties then seemingly losing patience and getting themselves out. They also did not make as serious an attempt to reach their 4th-innings target as they should have. They were guilty of trying to force the game too quickly at times, with Clarke, Smith and Warner all pushing too hard for extra runs either before they were properly settled or when the shot was simply not on. 

Their much-lauded bowling attack did not adjust to an eccentric pitch, which was slow and low early on but became more inconsistent as the game wore on,  as well as England. They also suffered from the loss of Harris, and Starc's injury affected his bowling and may rule him out of the next match at Lord's. Still, with Siddle likely to replace him, I expect them to force some sort of comeback in this series, and they usually perform well at the home of cricket.

England meanwhile will celebrate this win and great start to the series, with the hope that they can maintain this level of performance and bring the momentum to Lord's. A win in the second game would be huge, and make it incredibly difficult for Australia to come back.

Scorecard
http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2015/engine/match/743963.html

Reports
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/33492984
http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2015/content/story/897337.html

Ratings Explained: 1-3 very poor, 4 poor, 5 average, 6 OK, 7 good, 8 very good, 9 excellent, 10 unbelievable

Team ratings

England - Overall rating: 9

Cook*- 8
Lyth - 6.5
Ballance - 6.5
Bell - 7
Root - 9.5
Stokes - 8
Buttler+ - 7
Moeen Ali - 9
Broad - 8.5
Wood - 8
Anderson - 8

Australia team rating - 5