'Pathetic': Aussies humiliate England as Nathan Lyon reaches milestone
Nathan Lyon became just the third man in Australian history to reach 400 Test wickets after helping his team humble England in the opening Ashes Test.
The offspinner took four wickets on Saturday morning, England collapsing from 2-220 to be all out for 297.
Power outages affected broadcast on a strange day at the Gabba, but it didn't stop Australia coming out and hunting down the 20-run target just after lunch.
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Wicketkeeper Alex Carey, batting in place of the injured David Warner (ribs), fell for eight while Marcus Harris (nine) drove a boundary through point to bring up the winning runs.
Lyon waited almost a year to bring up his 400th Test wicket, but when it came in the fourth over of day four at the Gabba it triggered a dramatic collapse from the visitors.
England lost 8-74 to be bowled out in the first session, a morning that began with England 58 runs shy and hopes of Dawid Malan and Joe Root steering them well ahead ending in tatters.
Lyon (4-91) first forced an inside edge from Malan (82), the catch snaffled at silly point by Marnus Labuschagne to end a 162-run stand that had seemingly pulled Root's men back into the contest.
Cameron Green (2-23) then claimed the prized scalp of Root (89) thanks to some subtle outswing with the old ball and the rest fell away with little resistance.
Australia's dominance on Saturday followed their near-perfect effort on day one to dismiss England for 147, Pat Cummins taking five wickets on his captaincy debut.
Travis Head blazed an 85-ball century on Thursday before wicketkeeper Carey collected a world record eight catches in his first Test.
While Warner remained in cotton wool, injury fears for Josh Hazlewood were officially put to rest when the Australian quick took the second new ball and chimed in with the wicket of Jos Buttler.
Cummins addressed the Hazlewood mystery, but said the fast-bowler was fine.
"He was a little bit sore yesterday so we just tried to get him through. He pulled him up OK today," Cummins said after the match.
He had only bowled eight overs on Friday and none in the final session during England's rearguard.
But Hazelwood bowled six consecutive overs on Saturday morning in a good sign ahead of the second Test, a day-night affair in Adelaide starting on Thursday.
Viewers were critical of England's performance after showing some some fight on Day 3, only to lose their way on Day 4.
7 wickets for 89 runs for Pat Cummins - best match figures by an Aussie in his first Test as captain.
Richie Benaud had claimed 7/112 against England also at Brisbane in Dec 1958 in his first Test as captain.#Ashes #Ashes2021 #AusvsEng #AusvEng #EngvAus #EngvsAus— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 11, 2021
So perhaps one of the lessons for England is that you shouldn’t deliberately leave out your best bowlers in the opening match of an #Ashes series. Next, make better decisions at the toss…and maybe score more runs. #Cricket
— Faraz Sarwat (@farazcricket) December 11, 2021
Apart from the team selection, choosing to bat first, the batting, the catching and the result itself, that was great.
England's long-term rotation strategy (remember India?) is really paying dividends🙄 #AUSvENG#ASHES #ENGvsAUS— Paul Hawkins (@paulejhawkins) December 11, 2021
After a pathetic performance at Gabba, England have nothing but themselves to blame!! Their batting was poor and their decision to drop both James Anderson and Stuart Broad is even more baffling!! #Ashes #Gabba
— Cric Trend (@crictrend_) December 11, 2021
England now need a leaf out of India’s book of comebacks in Aus. Nice way to remember how our team set this benchmark 11 months ago. Still doubt anything would come close to India’s Gabba heist. Won’t mind some highlights now 😉#Ashes #ENGvAUS
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) December 11, 2021
Joe Root falls short of a century in Australia
It was Root's seventh unconverted 50-plus score in Australia across three tours and 10th against them in total since his last Ashes ton in 2015.
Root was disappointed after the match, but remained optimistic looking ahead at the long tour.
"We are a team who responds well to situations like this. We are not scared of a challenge or a difficult result," Root said.
"The toss was the right decision, but it's tough from 40-4 to get back in. I thought the seamers bowled well, but we didn't back that up in the field."
While Ollie Robinson (3-58 in the first innings) was impressive in his first Ashes Test, England will be questioning their decision to leave both Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson out of the side.
"We wanted variation in our attack, we wanted to be able to change the pace of the game."
Joe Root talks about England's team selection and also the chances they put down #Ashes pic.twitter.com/MY7tKhuGeL— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 11, 2021
Lyon's quest for a 400th scalp proved a talking point throughout 2020-21, when Australia failed to bowl India out at the SCG and Gabba.
The tweaker was stuck on 399 wickets after his 100th Test proved unforgettable for all the wrong reasons, with India storming to a series victory in Brisbane in January.
A postponed Test tour of South Africa meant Australia were forced to wait almost 11 months for a chance to don the baggy green again.
He bowled 24 wicketless overs on Friday to go with nine in the first innings, but Lyon came firing out of the blocks on Saturday with 4-22 from 10 overs.
He is the third Australian bowler to take 400 Test wickets, behind the retired Shane Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563).
with AAP
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