Australian captain Pat Cummins has lauded his teammates after stealing the win in the opening Test of the 2023 Ashes series in England after rain threatened to end the match in a draw.
Australia had been warned that unlike in the previous series in Australia, this would not be easy, particularly under the new 'Bazball' technique that has seen England lift their scoring under new coach Brendon McCullum.
For most of the Test match, however, the result remained heavily in the balance with no team holding any dominance over the other.
After recording the winning runs with an unbeaten score of 44 from his own bat, Cummins offered insight into how the game felt from his perspective and how it almost felt like a repeat of the famous finish at Headingley in 2019.
"It felt like from almost the first session of day one, its 50-50 the whole way along, It felt 50-50 the whole match," he said
"When we got down to about 10 (runs required for victory) or maybe 16, needing like one or two runs an over, I felt pretty confident.
"I felt like if the scoreboard wasn't ticking over, 70 felt like a long way away. We clinched one that felt out of our grasp.
When questioned if he was thinking about what happened in Headingley four years ago, Cummins said: "I would be lying if I said I didn't.
"We've been on the other side of it the last series. When you're on the other side, it really hurts, it feels like one got away.
"Once it got a little closer it felt like you could get one or two an over without taking as many risks."
Cummins played a huge role in Australia chasing down 281 runs before the end of Day 5. Cummins hit 44* off 73 balls, including the winning runs, partnering with Nathan Lyon, who hit a healthy 16* off 28 deliveries. The partnership between the two ultimately won a thriller with 27 balls left in front of a very lively crowd in Edgbaston, with Cummins praising his partner.
"He (Nathan Lyon) was really good," he said. "Nath was awesome, he was really chill
"When he's batting, he's always pretty talkative. I think it helps him out but it helps me out."
Cummins has also shared his response after Ollie Robinson's comments earlier in the week, with the English bowler suggesting that Australia had three number 11s in their tail.
"Didn't hear that one," Cummins said. "It's something we all practice.
"Nath puts a lot of time into it when he's back home, he's put a lot of time into his batting.
"We all had pretty strong plans. Adjustment from the first innings, even got a couple bumpers, and everyone went out there with a clear plan. Proper team effort."
Whilst Cummins' second innings with bat and ball may have set the win for Australia, the skipper was not taking the credit for being the deciding factor in the outcome, but rather Usman Khawaja.
Khawaja is having stellar form in recent matches and was announced 'Player of the Match' for his 200+ runs across both innings to bat in all five days.
Cummins also declared that the match was so close he wasn't sure what moment the game changed.
"I think Uzzie (Usman Khawaja) was the most decisive player," he said. "I felt bowling them out yesterday, I felt like 280 odd was a total we should chase down.
Australia is currently 1-0 in the series with game two starting on June 28 at Lords.
