Ashes 2017-18: Australia beat England by 10 wickets in first Test – live!

Australia started final day needing 56 runs to winDavid Warner and Cameron Bancroft steer hosts home before lunchECB investigates alleged altercation between Bairstow and Bancroft 1.34am GMT Of course, stick with us on the Guardian. I can see Vic Marks hammering away at his keyboard, Ali Martin is already keenly in the front row of the press conference, and Adam Collins is pacing up and down as he stews together various ideas about Cameron Bancroft. I’ll be writing between the Test matches on some broader themes, and of course we’ll be back on the OBO from Day 1 at Adelaide. There’s a whole huge summer of Ashes still to come, and we are the Vegas hotel guests who have but explored the first few sections of the buffet. 1.31am GMT Steve Smith is unsurprisingly man of the match for his 141 not out, an innings that spanned an epic 512 minutes, and 326 balls. Only 14 boundaries in that knock, including five or so when he finally went for it while batting with the tail. What an impressive performance that was. He could be a bit more vulnerable in Adelaide, though. Not that he’s ever exactly vulnerable, but the one place he does sometimes get out is nicking seamers, and swing could test him. He had a few misses outside off stump even in this Test. Admittedly this ‘weakness’ is like a cat burglar eyeing off a tiny air vent 40 metres off the ground, but you have to work with what you’ve got. Continue reading…
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