ASHES First Test: Lyon bowls Australia to victory at Edgbaston

Australia celebrates the final wicket, and the victory, as they take a 1-0 lead into Lord's.

Nathan Lyon has bowled Australia to a rollicking victory in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, taking six wickets on day five to secure a 251-run win.

It marked the first time Australia has won the opening game of an away Ashes series since 2005, and the first time England has lost an Ashes Test in Birmingham since 2001.

Having built an insurmountable 398-run lead, Australia was the only team with a chance of winning the game, needing 10 wickets to do so, and they came faster than expected, thanks largely to Lyon's 6-49.

The pitch appeared relatively docile for most of day four, suggesting the final day of the Test could be a long slog for Australia's bowlers, but Pat Cummins (4-32) struck after just 2.5 overs when first-innings centurion Rory Burns (11) popped a short ball to Lyon at point.

Before play, Lyon was the man tipped as the key for Australia on a turning pitch and came into the attack before long, but was initially blunted by Jason Roy and Joe Root.

After a prolonged period of pressure from Lyon, Peter Siddle and Cummins, firebrand Roy (28) tried to charge and launch the off spinner into orbit, only to have the ball turn sharply between his bat and pad to clatter into his stumps.

Four overs later Joe Denly (11) wasted the first of England's reviews when he edged onto his pad and into the hands of Cameron Bancroft at short leg.

Root (28) only made it through four more overs before edging straight to Bancroft in the same spot, leaving England reeling at 4-85 with its captain and best batsman out of commission.

Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, England's heroes in the World Cup final last month, made it to lunch unscathed but Buttler (1) was removed in the first over after the break when Cummins collected his off stump with the sixth ball of the session.

England was perhaps a bit unlucky to lose its second review when Jonny Bairstow used one after being given out caught in the slips by umpire Joel Wilson, who had a poor Test and had made two poor calls earlier in the day.

Wilson raised the finger after Bairstow ducked into a Cummins short ball that stayed low on the deteriorating deck. Bairstow was adamant the ball had hit him on the forearm, which it had, but the slow-motion replays suggested it also collected a hint of the top of his left glove as well and he had to go for 6.

Stokes (6) followed one ball later when he nicked off to Lyon, giving the off spinner his fourth wicket of the match and the 350th of his Test career, joining an elite club of Australian bowlers including Shane Warne (708), Glenn McGrath (563) and Dennis Lillee (355).

Lyon took another couple of steps towards Lillee's position in third spot on Australia's all-time Test wicket-takers list when he removed his bunny, Moeen Ali, for 4 and Stuart Broad for a golden duck in successive deliveries.

With England 9-136, still 50 overs away from the end of the day's play, injured seamer Jimmy Anderson would have been within his rights to not bother coming out to bat, ending England's innings early and denying Lyon a hat-trick.

He did deny Lyon his first Test hat-trick, by blunting the next delivery and hung around with Chris Woakes for five overs before Woakes fended a Cummins bouncer to Steve Smith, who was the right man to take the match-winning catch, having scored twin tons to set up a famous win.

"I'm just really grateful to be back playing for Australia, doing what I love. It's been a pretty special comeback and I'm over the moon," Smith said after being named man of the match.

"[The first-innings ton] was pretty emotional — I had to take a few deep breaths and take it in and realise what I'd just done. It was a special moment for me, probably as special as my first hundred for Australia."

THE STAR

Nathan Lyon acknowledges the crowd after taking his fifth wicket in England's second innings.

Nathan Lyon spun the England top order into a mess that they couldn't get out of, and was just as effective against the tail, bowling arguably the best over of the test late in the day which removed his bunny Moeen Ali, then Broad first ball, before finishing the over with a couple of dots. It was perfect off-spin bowling to left handers, drift, turn and bounce. The triple threat that made it hard to protect your stumps without giving up a chance of Lyon finding the edge. He was fantastic, finishing the innings with 6 for 49 and 9 wickets for the match, as he passed 350 test wickets, just the fourth Australian to do so.

THE MOMENT

Nathan Lyon celebrates the wicket of Jason Roy.

With England rebuilding after an early wicket, Jason Roy and Joe Root were looking to survive to lunch to put the pressure back onto Australia to take 9 wickets in two sessions. Enter Nathan Lyon. After Jason Roy's brain explosion left his stumps rattled, Nathan Lyon would take a further 2 wickets to take 3 in four overs to decimate England's hopes of survival.

THE FAILURE

Jason Roy lacked the patience when his side needed it most.

Jason Roy's shot selection left alot to be desired. After confidently sweeping Lyon to the backward square leg boundary, Tim Paine changed the field and forced Roy to take another shot. Not content with playing with patience and waiting for the bad ball, Roy couldn't resist as he would charge down the wicket and try and belt Lyon to, or over, the boundary. Instead, he would miss by a couple of inches and it would spin back onto his stumps. Replays and hawk-eye would show that Nathan Lyon bowled basically the same ball that Roy confidently swept just the over before, but a simple tweak in the field changed the batsman's mentality.

THE STAT -

352 - The number of test wickets that Nathan Lyon now has. He sits just three wickets behind Dennis Lillee, but sits 211 behind McGrath and a bit over 350 behind Warne. Who knows where the GOAT will finish his career, but there is a chance he could move into the Top 20 all time wicket takers before this series is out.

Photo of the Day

The Australian's celebrate the wicket of Ben Stokes.

Nathan Lyon decimated the England top order, and this photo captures the jubilation of the Australian's as Nathan Lyon dismisses the last remaining recognised batsman, Ben Stokes, to leave England at 97 for 7.