adminENGLAND slumped to a humiliating 381-run defeat in the first Test as Mitchell Johnson once again blew their fragile batting away.
Facing a target of 561 to win, or two days to bat through for the draw, England disintegrated from 142-4 to 151-8 and then 179 all out late on the fourth day to go behind in an Ashes series for the first time in seven years.Only captain Alastair Cook with 65 offered any prolonged resistance as his side lost four wickets for nine runs in 18 frantic mid-afternoon minutes at the Gabba.
Poor shots cost Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior but Johnson was rampant as he finished with 5-42 to go with his 4-61 in the first innings.
This was sweet revenge indeed for the left-arm fast bowler, a figure of fun when he recorded figures of 0-170 here three years ago but man of the match this time around.
It was England’s second biggest defeat in Ashes cricket in Australia, in terms of runs, and leaves them with several critical issues to address before the second Test begins in 10 days.
Australia had lost seven of their last nine Tests coming into this game, and had not won in the five-day format since last January.
But they have dominated the last three days at a ground that has not seen an Australian Test defeat in 25 years, and appear a side transformed from the unsettled, insecure unit that has struggled badly for so much of the past 12 months.
With only a two-day game against a weak opposition in Alice Springs to come before the second Test in Adelaide, it is England – 3-0 victors in the corresponding series three months ago – with all the headaches.
Cook and Pietersen had begun the day looking comparatively comfortable, the pitch still doing little to assist the bowlers despite the emergence of a few cracks.
They had taken the overnight score of 24-2 up to 72 when Pietersen tossed all that diligence away by taking the short-ball bait from Johnson and pulling straight to substitute fielder Chris Sabburg at long leg.
It was a dismal way to get out in the circumstances, even if England’s task was already near impossible.
Pietersen had fallen for the same obvious trap in the Sydney Test on England’s last tour down under, and can expect more of the same as this series continues.
Cook was contrastingly cautious. His half century – the third slowest of his Test career – came off 158 balls and was greeted with the most muted of acknowledgments.-cricinfo.
Online Reporter