Ashes, 1st Test: Australia crush England, win Gabba Test by nine wickets

England’s overnight hopes of dominating Australia in the opening Ashes Test here were dashed with the hosts coming up with a superb bowling display to thrash the tourists by nine wickets at The Gabba and take a 1-0 lead in the series on Saturday.

England top-order batters Dawid Malan and Joe Root’s spirited fightback had helped England close day three on a high as the tourists had reached 220 for two at stumps, trailing by 58 runs.

But on Saturday, the visitors could add only 77 runs to their overnight total as wickets fell like ninepins and England’s second innings folded up for 297 runs.

With a target of just 20 runs to be achieved, Marcus Harris completed the formalities by striking the winning runs, with Australia losing the wicket of Alex Carey in the process.

The action now shifts to Adelaide where the second Test will be held.

Brief scores: England 147 & 297 in 103 overs (Joe Root 89, Dawid Malan 82; Pat Cummins 2/51, Mitchell Starc 1/77; Nathan Lyon 4/91, Camero Green 2/23) lost to Australia 425 and 20 for 1 in 5.1 overs (Marcus Harris 9 not out) by nine wickets.