Head coach Brendon McCullum insisted England felt “validated” despite an agonising defeat in the first Ashes Test, and doubled down on the selection gamble of Moeen Ali.

England drove the game forward for the majority of five gripping days at Edgbaston but still find themselves 1-0 down with four to play after Australia’s more conservative approach carried them to a two-wicket victory in the dying moments of the final evening.

It needed a brilliant match-winning intervention of 44 not out from captain Pat Cummins to seal the deal, as England failed to defend a target of 281 thanks to his ninth-wicket stand with tailender Nathan Lyon.

England skipper Ben Stokes refused to entertain regrets after the match, commending his team for setting up a dramatic finish to a game that could have fallen flat due to a slow pitch and rain delays.

McCullum is cut from exactly the same cloth and he saw enough from his side to feel sure that their commitment to risky, aggressive cricket was the right way to go.

“I’m really proud of the boys to be honest. I thought it was a cracking Test match,” he said.

“I’m sure everyone that watched all around the world and everyone who was here at Edgbaston absolutely loved it and that includes us. I had an absolutely amazing time.

“Obviously you’d rather have won the game – that’s just the nature of sport sometimes – but I thought the way that we played validated our style of play.

“We firmly believe, the skipper and I, that this gives us our greatest chance.

“Of everyone that has watched this game over the last five days, I would be very surprised if there were too many people who disagree with how we go about playing, because everyone was left entertained.

“You’re not always going to win and we understand that, but we want to keep getting up and throwing punches as a team.”

McCullum was equally undeterred when it came to questions over Moeen’s painful return to the Test arena.

The 36-year-old was tempted out of red-ball retirement after Jack Leach went down with a stress fracture but, despite producing a couple of superb wicket-taking deliveries, he was reduced to a peripheral role in the critical fourth innings after a blister opened up on his right index finger.

That left England relying heavily on Joe Root’s part-time off-breaks and invited speculation over Moeen’s place in the second Test at Lord’s next Wednesday.

McCullum suggested some thought would be given to possible call-ups – with Surrey’s Will Jacks the most obvious candidate – but was confident that the injury could be resolved in the coming days. If that is the case, he guaranteed Moeen another shot.

“You’ve got to have some ideas and some theories up your sleeve and some options as well, but I’m pretty confident that we can get on top of Mo’s finger,” he said.

“That will give us an opportunity to select him in the next game and if he’s available, he will be selected.

“I thought Mo did a great job – he bowled a couple of absolute ‘jaffas’ in the game and that’s what his role was, to try and make breakthroughs when he had the opportunity.

“He’s got a big smile on his face, he’s loving being back playing Test cricket, which is testament to the game and also Stokesy and all the boys for making the environment one that you want to be a part of.”

Jonny Bairstow was another player who had some words of encouragement from McCullum after a tricky time behind the stumps.

He dropped a couple of catches and missed a stumping in the match, leaving some pining for the absent Ben Foakes and his imperious glovework.

Bairstow’s return from a broken leg and the emergence of Harry Brook at number five means Foakes will continue to be the odd man out and McCullum, a former international wicketkeeper, declared himself content with the status quo.

“I thought they were pretty tough mistakes to be honest. I’ve kept over here before, it’s not the easiest place. When the ball is spitting and bouncing out of the rough, it can be quite difficult,” he said.

“I actually thought Jonny kept really well right throughout. If you look at the way he progressed throughout the game, I think he found a natural rhythm.

“We know what he offers with the bat, him coming in at seven is a real weapon for us as well, so I think he’ll be better for the run.”

Australia captain Alyssa Healy is relishing the “trench warfare” that could ensue over a five-day Test which marks the start of the multi-format Women’s Ashes.

Women’s Tests have customarily spanned four days but the last six matches worldwide dating back to 2017 have all been draws, prompting England and Australia to agree to an extension for this series opener.

Healy – skippering Australia in the absence of Meg Lanning, who is out of the tour for medical reasons – was adamant tacking on an extra day at Trent Bridge is no guarantee of bringing a positive result.

But she believes the elongation could present an extra dimension as her side looks to retain the urn they have held since 2015, having won three of the last four series between the teams with one draw.

“Five days here could be really interesting,” she said. “It’s probably just a mental battle and there could be a bit of trench warfare at times, we’ll see how it goes.

“It could present a result, but there are draws in five-day men’s games as well. We can’t be assured of that.

“We’ve come here to win the big moments and big matches, and this one to get four points up early, as an Aussie squad would be a great result.

“I think for the first time, there’s a sense of an unknown about both sides. It’s the next gen banging on the door and giving us a glimpse into what the Ashes series will look like for the next 10 years.”

While England named their XI early – with an international debut for seamer Lauren Filer and a Test bow for attacking batter Danni Wyatt – Healy was tight-lipped about her all-conquering Australia line-up.

However, she was unsurprised at England’s announcement, having worked under England head coach Jon Lewis when the pair were at UP Warriorz during the Women’s Premier League in India in March.

“It’s aggressive and attacking, I absolutely love it,” Healy said. “They were speaking about wanting to bring it.

“Spending a bit of time with Jon in the WIPL, his thoughts on the game and how he wants to play it reflects exactly that.”

Heather Knight wants England to exploit the increased exposure from a seminal Women’s Ashes series, insisting she and her team take a responsibility to inspire the next generation “personally”.

England will try to wrestle the urn from all-conquering Australia’s grasp in the multi-format series, beginning with a lone Test at Trent Bridge where around 15,000 tickets have been sold across five days.

On the eve of the curtain-raiser, Knight senses an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the England football team, who sent the nation into raptures with their triumphant Euro 2022 campaign.

Doing so will be no mean feat as Australia have not lost to England since 2014, hold both limited-overs World Cups and won gold at last year’s Commonwealth Games, but Knight is in an optimistic mood.

She said: “One of our mantras is to entertain and inspire. In the women’s game, we take it quite personally that we want to promote the game in the right way, get people behind us and inspire them.

“It’s super special and it’s set up to be a really amazing Ashes series that’s probably going to be the most visible series outside of World Cups that we’ve ever had. We’re keen to try and maximise that.

“Women’s sport is just in such an amazing place in the country in the moment and we want to be a part of that. What the Lionesses did last summer, we loved watching it and want to be a part of that.

“We know we’re up against a very good Australian team but we’ve got the opportunity to do something special and part of that is bringing the country with us on that journey.”

Australia’s two-wicket victory over England in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston ranks alongside some of the greatest matches played between cricket’s oldest rivals.

Here, the PA news agency highlights some key stats from an incredible game.

Culture clash

A big part of the allure surrounding this match and the rest of the series relates to the styles of cricket that both teams play, which could hardly be more different.

Australia play tough, attritional cricket designed to grind down their opposition, while England have adopted an ultra-aggressive style under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, aimed at generating results – whether that be a win or a loss.

This clash of ideologies was on full display in Birmingham.

Australia and England scored a near-identical number of runs (668 compared with 666) and lost the same number of wickets (18), but Pat Cummins’ side faced 1,252 deliveries compared with England’s 866.

Australia were happy to bide their time, scoring at a rate of 53.35 runs per 100 balls on average, while Stokes’ men looked to force a result by striking at 76.91.

The difference in approach was embodied by the teams’ key batters – England’s reverse-ramping Joe Root faced just 207 balls for his 164 runs across both innings, while Australia’s stoic Usman Khawaja scored his 206 runs from 518 deliveries and became the 13th player in history to bat on all five days of a Test match.

Ebb and flow

Australia’s win was especially thrilling because of the way the match seemed to swing back and forth throughout.

Just seven runs separated the sides after the first innings, in which England surprisingly declared on 393 for eight and Australia lost their last four wickets for 14 runs to be bowled out for 386.

The drama went up a notch in the second innings, however, as both teams repeatedly threatened to get ahead before losing a wicket.

Eighteen of the 19 second-innings’ partnerships reached double figures but only four passed 50, with the highest being Australia’s opening stand of 61 between Khawaja and David Warner.

Similarly, 19 of the 21 batters scored 10 or more runs, with only Zak Crawley (seven) and Steve Smith (six) falling in single digits.

Redemption

Australia captain Cummins and spin bowler Nathan Lyon were key figures in the thrilling Edgbaston victory, having also played a central role in a heartbreaking defeat at Headingley in 2019.

Cummins conceded the winning runs four years ago as Stokes led England to an unlikely win, while Lyon missed a crucial run-out chance in the penultimate over.

This time, the pair inspired their side to victory with an unbroken partnership of 55 from a perilous position of 227 for eight when Alex Carey – the last recognised batter – was dismissed.

Cummins and Lyon had already performed heroics with the ball to limit Australia’s target to 281.

They took a combined eight wickets for 143 runs from 42.2 overs in England’s second innings, compared with two for 121 from 24 overs by Australia’s remaining bowlers – Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Cameron Green.

Having the right mindset begins with identifying what you want. Without a clear picture of what winning looks like you'll never know if you're on the right path, which means you can't course correct. West Indies Head coach Darren Sammy knows this all too well, which is why he is hoping the team can align a success mindset with proper execution to achieve their goals.

In fact, Sammy pointed out that players are already aware of the direction he wants to go with the regional outfit and believes the ongoing ICC World Cup qualifiers represents the perfect place to start consistently improving the quality of their play and, by extension, maintain some semblance of respect for themselves.

West Indies, who are hunting one of two places to the 50-over World Cup in India in October, won their opening game against United States by 39 runs at the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe. 

Prior to that, they registered a 3-0 series sweep of United Arab Emirates, followed by warm-up victories over the same opponent, as well as Scotland. 

"I am quite happy with the way we are going the six games that we have played we have taken steps in trying to play the brand of cricket that we want to play. So, it's about sticking to our guns and the plans we put in place and committing to the execution," Sammy said.

"In the first (qualifying) game against USA we got the win that we needed, it was a great start to the tournament, but we have so much more in the tank. The guys weren't happy with the way they played which is good sign for us, we keep challenging ourselves and it's still a work in progress trying to find the identity of our cricket moving forward but I was pleased with the victory," he added.

It is obvious why Sammy took pleasure in the win given what is at stake, but where the overall performance is concerned, the former captain and all-rounder, who took over the reins late last month, was left with a mixed bag.

This, as West Indies, a two-time world champion, recovered from the early loss of openers Brandon King and Kyle Mayers, with four players hitting half-centuries in their 297 all out in 49.3 overs.

Johnson Charles top scored with 66, while Jason Holder (56), Roston Chase (55) and captain Shai Hope (54) all did some damage, while Nicholas Pooran also chipped in with 43 runs.

Gajanand Singh had an unbeaten 101 off 109 balls, with eight fours and two sixes, for the US team, but it wasn't enough to overhaul West Indies total.

"I listened the captain's post-match interview and ideally, you would want one of them to score big hundred, but he was happier that performances came from different batsmen in the group. You look at Brandon King who has been playing well, didn't get a score and Kyle Mayers didn’t get a score so it's a good sign for us that as a group, even though we were under pressure, we came back strongly. 

"Ideally you would want one of those (batsmen) to convert (50s) into hundred and we as a team celebrate the milestones after. But the guys are preparing well, they are hitting lots of balls and they understand the direction the team wants to go in as a batting unit," Sammy shared.

"Again, I say it's early days but once the mindset is to get to what we want to do as a team, I believe you will see improvements in the days to come. So again, it's a work in progress and with the ball we created a couple opportunities, but we dropped a few catches that could have affected us in the bigger scheme of things," the St Lucian noted.

West Indies are currently second in Group A on four points, two behind Zimbabwe, who defeated Nepal and Netherlands in their two fixtures to date. Sri Lanka, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Scotland and Ireland are contesting Group B.

However, West Indies are set to square off against Nepal on Thursday and if the confidence exuded by Sammy is anything to go by, then another two points is already in the bag for the regional side. Nepal currently occupies third position on two points, following victory over US.

"Nepal is a team that is on the rise, and they have been playing good cricket, so again we respect all our opponents, but we focus on the things that we do as a team or the direction and brand of cricket that we want to play. Whenever we bat that new ball, we have to make sure the opposition don't get too much ahead when the new ball comes. 

"I thought we could have had more intent (against US) because that's one of the things we have been talking about as a batting group...intent to score and when I say that it's not necessarily looking only for boundaries but looking for scoring opportunities and when you do get the good balls, you can still get the rotation of strike going. It all boils down in our preparation which we have been doing well and I have full confidence and belief in the men that they will go out and do themselves and the region proud," Sammy declared.

On that note, he shared his views on the effects of the early start which he expects the top order, in particular, to better navigate on this occasion, if they lose the toss and are asked to take first strike. 

"We knew it, anywhere in the world a 9:00am start will pose a challenge with the new ball to the batters, so whoever wins the toss will most likely want to bowl first. But our focus as a batting group is to understand the challenge that the new ball poses and making sure that the opposition doesn't get on top of us," Sammy reasoned.

"Our skills will come into play but as you have seen in all the games, once we survive that new ball period, there are plenty of runs on offer and for us as a batting group, it is just to limit the damage or the threat that new ball poses up front. But again, the way the guys have prepared, I expect the challenges to be met with good consistency and good skills from my men," he ended.

Lauren Filer will make her England debut in the one-off Test that marks the start of the multi-format Women’s Ashes after being preferred to fellow seamer Issy Wong.

England have announced their XI, 24 hours out from the start of the Trent Bridge match, with 32-year-old batter Danni Wyatt set for her Test debut after making 245 international white-ball appearances.

Despite being wicketless in a warm-up against an Australia A side last week, England have seen enough from Filer to nudge her ahead of the highly-rated Wong for the five-day fixture.

Filer has taken eight wickets in four matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in 2023 and five in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, and the 22-year-old is set to be thrust into the biggest test of her career.

She was one of two uncapped players named in England’s Test squad with head coach Jon Lewis praising her as a “genuine wicket-taking threat with good pace and swing” and offering a “point of difference”.

Bowling all-rounder Danielle Gibson will have to wait for her first England cap, with the hosts choosing to bolster their batting as they go in search of a first series win over Australia since 2014.

Wyatt has registered in excess of 4,000 runs in the shorter formats in an international career that started in March 2010 – including a 56-ball T20 hundred against Australia in Canberra in November 2017.

She made a quickfire 37 off 46 balls for England A in a practice match against a full Australia side last week.

England’s Joe Root has leapfrogged Ashes rivals Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head to top the Test batting rankings.

The Yorkshireman’s performance in scoring a combined 164 runs – 118 not out and 46 – at Edgbaston in the first Test defeat to Australia propelled him five places up the International Cricket Council’s rankings.

Labuschagne dropped two places to third after making just 13, including a first-ball duck in the first innings, with Head falling to fourth despite a first-innings half-century.

Edgbaston man-of-the-match Usman Khawaja, the fourth Australian in the top 10 along with Steve Smith, moved up two places to seventh after scores of 141 and 65.

England’s next-best performer is Harry Brook, who rose five spots to 13th on the back of scores of 32 and 46.

James Anderson retained his place as the second best bowler in the world, despite a disappointing display in Birmingham, while Ollie Robinson moved into the top five with five wickets in the first Test.

Meanwhile, following a thrilling final day at Edgbaston, England and Australia have both been fined 40 per cent of their match fees and deducted two World Test Championship points for slow over-rates.

Despite serving up a breathless finale in which the tourists snatched a two-wicket victory on a see-saw fifth evening, both teams have been punished for failing to get through their overs quickly enough.

Captains Ben Stokes and Pat Cummins pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanctions, so there was no need for formal hearings, the ICC said.

As the match was the first in the new WTC cycle, that means England’s reward for the attacking tactics that moved the game towards its dramatic conclusion despite long rain delays is to sit on minus two in the table.

Australia picked up 12 points for their Cummins-inspired win, so drop back to 10.

All 22 players have also lost 40 per cent of their match fees, which equates to around £6,000 for the English contingent.

England are waking up to defeat in the first Test against Australia for the third Ashes series in a row.

The tone of the game may have been different, with Ben Stokes’ side making most of the running across five enthralling days to set up a finish, but the end result was the same as 2017, 2019 and 2021.

Australia held the urn aloft in each of those series, flexing their muscles in matching 4-0 wins on home soil and retaining after a 2-2 draw on tour four years ago.

England will now need to overturn a 1-0 deficit with four games to play, but what should they do to make that happen?

Keep the faith in ‘Bazball’

Defeat against their bitter rivals will hurt, but now is not the time to rip up a playbook that has delivered 11 wins from 14 Test matches under Ben Stokes’ captaincy.

In particular, England have proven that their ultra-aggressive batting style can hurt an Australia attack who hoped they would be immune.

They scored at a rollicking 5.03 an over in the first innings and kept it up at 4.11 on a trickier surface in the second and landed important blows along the way.

Scott Boland went around the park for the first time in his Test career and Joe Root’s reverse ramps will have tested the egos of the Australian quicks.

Fix Moeen’s finger or find a replacement

There was always going to be an element of risk in summoning Moeen Ali out of international retirement when Jack Leach went down with a stress fracture.

The 36-year-old last played first-class cricket almost two years ago and his lack of conditioning came back to haunt England when his right index finger blistered then burst open.

He found it difficult to grip and rip the ball from that point onward and was able to offer just seven overs on day five as part-timer Joe Root picked up the bulk of the work.

If the medical staff are confident they can rectify the situation in the coming days Moeen should get another chance at Lord’s, but if there is a chance of history repeating then Surrey’s Will Jacks looks like the next man in and should be called up.

Dial down the declaration addiction

For the second game in a row England have lost a Test match after declaring eight down in the first innings.

New Zealand edged them by a single run in Wellington back in February and now Australia have snuck across the line.

Stokes’ penchant for calling an early end to his side’s run-scoring has been a fascinating facet of his captaincy and at times has worked brilliantly – including three Tests ago in Mount Maunganui.

But pulling out after just 78 overs, the earliest ever declaration in the Ashes, may have been slightly too radical. Root was racing along on 118 not out and it would not have taken him long to score enough runs to alter the final outcome.

Rally around Bairstow

By choosing to drop Ben Foakes, a player Stokes has frequently described as the best wicketkeeper in world cricket, England opened themselves up to criticism. But with Harry Brook undroppable after a prolific winter and the star performer of 2022, Jonny Bairstow, fit again, Foakes was the fall guy.

Bairstow is an experienced gloveman but put down at least three chances that he would have hoped to take, racking up a tab that his dashing 78 in the first innings did not fully clear.

Those who advocate a Foakes recall at Lord’s can think again, with the squad already announced and Bairstow going nowhere.

For now they need to get behind a player who thrives on confidence and certainty over his role. Neither he nor England can afford any more costly slip-ups, but showing faith might be the best way to avoid them next week.

Let Wood make his mark

One thing England lacked in their XI at Edgbaston was outright pace, a quality Mark Wood brings in abundance. With Jofra Archer and Olly Stone both out injured, he is the only man available who can routinely clear 90mph.

He is best used in short, sharp spells and concerns over Stokes’ ability to share the workload may have played a part in him missing out in the first Test. But on a Lord’s pitch that can play flat, he might be just the tonic.

Wood was England’s most impressive performer Down Under in the 2021-22 Ashes and already has Australia’s respect.

After an unusually quiet outing, record wicket-taker James Anderson could be in line to stand down but it might also be possible to lean on Root’s spin and choose a four-strong pace cartel. Either way, it feels like Wood is a game breaker they cannot afford to overlook.

England and Australia have been fined 40 per cent of their match fees and deducted two World Test Championship points for slow over-rates in their thrilling Ashes opener at Edgbaston.

Despite serving up a breathless finale in Birmingham, where the tourists snatched a two-wicket victory on a see-saw fifth evening, both teams have been punished for failing to get through their overs quickly enough.

Captains Ben Stokes and Pat Cummins pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanctions, so there was no need for formal hearings, the International Cricket Council said.

As the match was the first in the new WTC cycle, that means England’s reward for the attacking tactics that moved the game towards its dramatic conclusion despite long rain delays is to sit on minus two in the table. Australia picked up 12 points for their Cummins-inspired win, so drop back to 10.

All 22 players have also lost 40 per cent of their match fees, which equates to around £6,000 for the English contingent.

Mark Ramprakash expects Mark Wood to return to the England line-up for the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.

Australia won the opening game of the series by two wickets on a dramatic final day at Edgbaston as the hosts failed to break a 55-run match-winning ninth-wicket stand between Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.

Former England batter and batting coach Ramprakash, who played 52 Tests, reckons the bowling attack will be given serious consideration by coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.

“By and large, England will be happy they played the brand of cricket they wanted to,” Ramprakash, 53, told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“The only thing is, they have asked for quite flat wickets which are batter-friendly which can, to a degree, negate England’s greatest bowler in Jimmy Anderson, who only took one wicket in the game.

“His form will perhaps be a bit of a concern going forward to Lord’s and they will have to make a call on selection.

“It was a big thing for Moeen Ali to come back in but, with the amount of overs he bowled, he ripped the skin off his spinning finger and that impaired his performance in the second innings and that is something they will have to look at very closely.

“I expect Mark Wood to be seriously considered because England need some pace in their line-up.

“It is just injecting a bit of life. If Moeen is struggling, what variety do England have in their attack if the wicket is flat? I do expect Wood to come back in.”

Australia drew first blood in the 2023 Ashes as Pat Cummins led his side to a heart-pounding victory over England at Edgbaston.

The first Test of the series swung backwards and forwards for the full five days, before the tourists finally secured a two-wicket win at 7.20pm on day five – 80 minutes after the scheduled close.

Captain Cummins played the decisive hand, hitting an unbeaten 44 in a ninth-wicket stand of 55 with Nathan Lyon. Watching Australia chase down 281 was a gut-wrenching result for an England team that had been responsible for making a result possible in the first place.

A frustratingly placid pitch and two rain-shortened days meant a draw should have been the likeliest outcome, but their rapid rate of scoring – 5.03 an over in the first innings and 4.11 in the second – moved the game forward at pace. Ben Stokes’ audacious declaration to set up the game had a similar effect.

Stokes looked to have set up an England triumph when he defied his long-standing knee injury to remove player-of-the-match Usman Khawaja for 65, but in the end they could not finish the job and will head to Lord’s down 1-0 with four to play.

Selection gamble leaves England in a spin

When England persuaded Moeen Ali to come out of retirement after almost two years as a white-ball specialist, they knew it was a roll of the dice. In the end the gamble cost them during a tense finale as the all-rounder was unable to play a full role due to a painful open blister on his right index finger. He was able to contribute just seven overs at a time when he should have been a key weapon, with Joe Root’s part-time off-breaks accounting for 15. Moeen did manage to dismiss Travis Head, but he was also the team’s most expensive bowler and was a bystander at the business end. Will England double down in the second Test or send for back-up?

Half-chances add to England’s missed opportunities

Wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow faced criticism for his glovework earlier in the match, with four possible chances getting past him. But England saw another couple of fiendishly difficult openings go begging off Australia’s match-winning duo. Root got a hand to a low return catch while Cummins was still in single figures, but could only parry it, while Stokes came desperately close to a sensational take in the deep as Lyon hit out. He leapt into the air and plucked the ball out of the sky, but could not keep it under control as he came crashing to the ground. Had either of those fiendishly hard chances stuck, England would surely have been celebrating at the close.

Australia’s best ever Ashes chasesBig numberView from the dressing roomWhat comes next

While the dust settles on a thrilling week, things are only beginning to get going in the women’s Ashes. Attention moves quickly from West Midlands to East Midlands, with the one-off Test between Heather Knight’s England and Alyssa Healy’s Australia starting in Nottingham on Thursday. For the men’s squads there is time for a few days off before renewing hostilities at Lord’s next Wednesday.

Surrey romped to their highest T20 score at the Kia Oval as they crushed Glamorgan by 81 runs to claim their fifth win in six Vitality Blast South Group games.

After opener Will Jacks top-scored with 69, Curran brothers Sam and Tom put their side in command as they combined to plunder 80 runs from the last 33 deliveries to see Surrey to 238 for five.

The under-strength visitors laboured to 157 for eight in reply but still harbour hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the competition.

Gloucestershire beat Hampshire by eight wickets on the Duckworth/Lewis method to maintain their slim hopes of reaching the knockout stages.

Ben Wells and Ben Charlesworth put on a brilliant third-wicket stand of 55 to see their side home after Ross Whiteley’s 41 off 25 balls had helped Hampshire to a respectable 158 for seven.

Eleven overs were then lost to rain before Wells and Charlesworth combined with 43 and 29 respectively to claim victory with five balls to spare.

Jordan Cox hit an unbeaten 82 off 44 deliveries as Kent Spitfires beat Sussex Sharks by six wickets to claim their fourth Vitality Blast win in a row.

Sussex looked set for an imposing total after Ravi Bopara’s 53 helped them reach 133 for three, but Michael Hogan’s four for 31 helped Kent peg back the hosts to 169 for seven.

Cox cranked up his response by hitting six fours and five sixes as the Spitfires successfully chased down the hosts’ total with eight balls to spare.

Birmingham Bears held on to top spot in the North group after a thrilling two-wicket victory over Durham at Seat Unique Riverside.

Hasan Ali took two for 15 off four overs as Durham struggled to an unconvincing total of 146 for five at the interval.

Alex Davies and Rob Yates fashioned an opening stand of 80 in response but the visitors stalled until Jacob Bethell smashed a six and a four in the final over to steer Birmingham over the line with three balls to spare.

Jos Buttler’s efforts proved in vain as Lancashire Lightning crashed to a seven-wicket defeat against Worcestershire Rapids at New Road.

Buttler rescued his side from 38 for four by smashing 74 off 54 balls but the Lightning were restricted to 164 for eight.

Pat Brown took three wickets and Mitchell Santner followed up with 49 off 27 balls as Worcestershire triumphed with 14 balls remaining.

Leicestershire remain rooted to the bottom of the North Group after falling to a 22-run defeat to Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge.

Despite restricting the hosts to 165 for eight, Leicestershire struggled in response, with Wiaan Mulder scoring 38 but Steven Mullaney’s three wickets for 18 steered the Outlaws home.

Former Yorkshire T20 captain David Willey returned to haunt his former club as Northamptonshire Steelbacks won by 78 runs at Headingley.

Tom Taylor returned career-best figures of five for 28 as the visitors bowled Yorkshire out for just 102 inside 16 overs, having set a target of 181.

Australia captain Pat Cummins was elated to lead his side over the line in an Ashes nailbiter, four years after ending up on the wrong side of Ben Stokes’ Headingley miracle.

Cummins hit a match-clinching 44 not out during a nerve-jangling final session at Edgbaston, finishing off a chase of 281 in ice-cool fashion during a ninth-wicket stand of 55 with Nathan Lyon.

Both men had been in the thick of the action during another classic finish in 2019, when England skipper Stokes reeled off a heroic century alongside last man Jack Leach.

Lyon, who held firm for 16 not out, botched a run out that would have won that game for Australia and it was Cummins who conceded the winning runs when Stokes pummeled him through the covers.

In the afterglow of a two-wicket victory that will live long in the memory, Cummins embraced the chance to square the ledger.

“Yeah, I would be lying if I said it didn’t (cross my mind),” he said.

“We were on the other side of one in the last series here. When you’re on the other side it feels like one that’s got away and it really hurts.

“It’s a really happy dressing room in there. A lot of those guys were there at Headingley and to clinch one that was perhaps out of our grasp for a little while there is pretty satisfying.

“It’s about having that belief that anyone is a match-winner, you could be the one to step up and win it. When you’re in the backyard playing as a kid you wish to be in these moments, to be here in an Ashes series, that’s what you want and it’s great to be on the winning side.”

Neither side ever felt fully in control of a match that stayed remarkably even across five tightly-wound days, but England were the team who did most to propel things towards an exciting finish.

The combination of a stubborn pitch and time lost to rain would have killed the prospects of a result had the hosts not moved things forward with rapid run-scoring and a risky declaration on day one.

Cummins’ men were much more careful throughout and rode their caution all the way to the winning line, leaving a hollow ring to the chants of “boring, boring Aussies” that rang out from the Eric Hollies Stand.

“The fans were pretty noisy out on the hill. Win or lose we are pretty comfortable with how we go about it,” he said.

“We’ve been really good for the last 20 Test matches over two years. Winning is nice. We are at our best when we play at our own pace and tempo. We’re a stable team, we know what we need to be at our best and we’ll keep doing it.”

Cummins, whose mother Maria died earlier this year, was seen celebrating with his father Peter on the balcony and signed off with an emotional moment.

“Dad’s been here all week, I feel really lucky to have him here because it’s been a tough few months,” he said.

“Dad was here in 2019 with Mum, so having him here was really special. I went with him to see Bruce Springsteen (at Villa Park) on the first night as well. So, it’s been a good week.”

Ben Stokes was “devastated” as England fell behind in the Ashes after a gripping climax to the first Test at Edgbaston but he was resolute that their style of play can topple Australia.

An unbroken 55-run stand between Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon saw Australia snatch victory from under England’s noses in a dramatic denouement to an LV= Insurance series opener that ebbed and flowed.

While smarting from a two-wicket defeat leaves England with an uphill task, Stokes has seen enough from the last five days to convince him that their attacking approach can reap dividends in the weeks ahead.

The big question amid all the pre-series hype was how the philosophy styled under captain Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum would cope with the world Test champions, but from the moment Zak Crawley thumped the first ball of the match for four, England have shown they are up for the battle ahead.

“I am devastated we’ve lost that game but in terms of what it’s done for the series, it’s hard to not be too disappointed because it has set up a great series,” Stokes said.

“It’s not a psychological blow at all.

“We’ve lost but if you look at the way we’ve played, compared to how the last few Ashes series have gone, proves what we’re capable of doing against Australia.

“Losing sucks but the way we applied ourselves literally from ball one proves we’re able to stand up to Australia.

“Even if we’re on the wrong end of the result here, we proved we can go toe-to-toe throughout the whole game against Australia. We’ve got four games left and that’s what we’re going to be concentrating on.”

One of the major talking points from the Test came with England declaring late on day one on 393 for eight – despite Joe Root flying after bringing up his first Ashes century since 2015.

But Stokes was unrepentant – reasoning there was a chance to eat into Australia’s batting, which was ultimately unsuccessful – and argued doing so may have laid the groundwork for the thrilling finale.

“I’m a captain who saw it as an opportunity to pounce on Australia,” he said. “The way in which we played and took Australia on actually allowed us to be able to do that.

“If we didn’t declare, would we have got that excitement like we did at the end? I’m not 100 per cent sure but I’m not going to be looking back at this game as what ifs. We just didn’t manage to get over the line.”

After rain wiped out the morning session, Australia resumed on 107 for three in pursuit of 281 at the 25,000 sell-out in Birmingham, where both sides seemed to be in the ascendancy at various stages.

Stokes winkled out Usman Khawaja as Australia lurched to 209 for seven then 227 for eight after Root snared Alex Carey but Cummins (44no) and Lyon (16no) defied the building tension to see Australia home.

The match-defining partnership might have been broken but Stokes was unable to hang on to what would have been a wonder catch when Lyon was on two.

Stokes admitted his thoughts drifted back to Headingley in 2019, when he and England were reprieved after Lyon flubbed a run-out chance at a crucial stage.

“It’s amazing how the world comes around and I drop that catch and then he’s not out at the end,” Stokes said. “It’s mad how things go round. It was in my hand, just didn’t managed to stick.

“It was an emotional roller coaster to be out in the middle, especially the person having to make decisions but I couldn’t be more proud of the way in which we’ve operated from the start of this game.”

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes England will be left questioning their ‘Bazball’ approach after Ben Stokes’ side lost an opening Ashes contest described by Nasser Hussain as “utterly absorbing”.

Pat Cummins led Australia to a remarkable two-wicket victory at Edgbaston, with an unbeaten 44 and match-winning stand of 55 alongside number 10 Nathan Lyon.

Australia’s triumph came following Stokes’ first-innings declaration on 393 for eight on the opening day after he and England head coach Brendon McCullum promised supporters entertainment.

“It was just a brilliant game and I was so privileged to be here to watch it,” Ponting told Sky Sports.

“The interesting thing coming out of it for me is going to be which team has got the most questions to answer, and I think England do.

“Is their style of play going to hold up in an Ashes series? Do they keep going, or do they declare at 393 on day one?

“By no means am I saying England’s methods are wrong. I have loved watching them play. But it goes to show that there is more than one way to skin a cat. This is a long game, and Australia’s method has stood up and worked.”

Australia successfully completed their second-highest chase in England, reaching a target of 281 that had seemed beyond them.

Former England captain Hussain, also speaking on Sky Sports, added: “It was utterly, utterly absorbing from the first ball which Zak Crawley creamed to the covers, to that last delivery.

“Pat Cummins was calm and cool when their country, and this country, was on the edge of our seats.

“When you lose, ‘Bazball’, the declaration and everything else gets questioned.

“But I applaud the players because this ground was sold out for five days, and everyone who came here today will want to come back for Test match cricket. And in this era, when Test match cricket is vulnerable, you do have to keep one eye on that.

“But obviously you want to win. You can’t hide behind that. We have beaten Australia in England since 2001 playing the old-fashioned way, so we didn’t need ‘Bazball’ to beat Australia then, but they have shown why they are the number one team in the world.”