The Ashes Edgbaston 2023: Revenge of Ashes Tests 2005; Checkout the spooky similarities

A two-run victory in the second Test at Edgbaston in 2005, when England memorably won the Ashes, helped the team advance to their ultimate series victory. Unfortunately for the hosts, they were on the wrong side of the outcome in the current Ashes series in a game that saw comparable ebbs and flows. On the last day of the Ashes Edgbaston Test 2023, the Australians won by two wickets.

The 2005 series’ build-up was comparable to that of the current Ashes because of the outstanding form that both England and Australia had been in leading up to the eagerly awaited match.

As the Ashes series approaches in the present, the arch-rivals have been playing red-ball cricket in scorching condition for the past year.

In contrast to Australia, who won the 2021–23 WTC cycle and went on to upset India in the championship match, England has had a dramatic turnaround in the Test format, winning 11 of their previous 13 games.

The Ashes Edgbaston Tests in 2005 and 2023 featured nonstop high drama and engrossing action. The pendulum repeatedly swung in favour of either team, and it culminated in a breath-taking climax that stunned the cricketing world.

The Ashes Edgbaston 2005 and 2023: The spooky similarity

The Australians had to pursue essentially identical goals in order to win the two Edgbaston classics. In the 2005 encounter, the visitors were assigned a target of 282, whereas in the 2023 Test, they were given a target of 281.

Even if the days leading up to the last innings had different plans, seeing virtually the same score set for the Australians to beat seemed familiar.

In the 2005 match, England held a commanding 99-run first-innings advantage before suffering a top-order collapse that reduced them to 31/4 in the second innings. But because to Andrew Flintoff’s outstanding 73-run performance, the visitors were able to post 182, giving the Australians a challenging target to chase in the fourth innings.

The Ashes Edgbaston 2023: A Revenge of Edgbaston Ashes Tests 2005

The Australians began their run chases on both occasions, when they were chasing identical objectives, with a strong and secure opening partnership that provided the ideal framework for the remainder of the innings.

Usman Khawaja and David Warner made 61 runs for the first wicket in the 2023 match, compared to Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer’s 47 off 74 deliveries in the 2005 match.

Unexpected lower-order partnerships in the Australian run down to both targets astounded the English players and the raucous Edgbaston crowd.

In the 2005 match, Shane Warne and Brett Lee put on a 45-run partnership for the ninth wicket from what appeared to be a precarious situation at 175/8. After that, Lee and Michael Kasprowicz put up another outstanding combination, this time for the final wicket, scoring 59 runs.

Similar lower-order resistance was seen in the 2023 classic between Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, who put on an unbroken 55-run stand for the ninth wicket to lead Australia to an incredible triumph at Edgbaston.

‘Did you lose the first one in 05?’: Ben Stokes draws parallels between The Ashes Edgbaston 2005 and 2023 result

England had been in control of the game for the majority of the time thanks to their “Bazball” style, which entails creative field placements, creative strokes, and high scoring rates. However, with such a slim margin separating the sides at the end, skipper Ben Stokes’ decision to declare the first innings on 393/8 on a hectic opening day came back to haunt him.

He expressed no remorse, though, and assured that Australia should anticipate much more in the four matches left in the series, which start at Lord’s next week.

Ben Stokes in interaction with Michael Vaughan

“I am very proud. To take it to the end of day five like that… it was a rollercoaster, so up and down. It is another one of the games we will never forget being a part of over the last year,” Stokes was quoted as saying by the ICC.

“We just want to be a part of some great moments. Hopefully we have managed to attract the attention,” he said.

“A loss is a loss. We stuck to our guns in terms of how we were going to operate and we are going to keep coming at Australia in the way that we did,” he added.

In a post match interaction with former England captain Michael Vaughan, Stokes compared the result to the 2005 series and said, “Scoring 390 and then being able to declare, sends a message to Australia,” said Stokes before asking Vaughan, “Did you lose the first one in 2005?”

“I like your style, you are just copying the 05′ series,” said Vaughan at the end.

Also read: Joe Root topples Marnus Labuschagne as World No. 1 batter in the latest ICC Test Rankings

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