Day 4 at The Gabba : Mitchell Johnson blows England away to draw first blood

THE EVENTS

Oh, how so predictable….Australia tamely succu…oops time to change the script. Mighty Australia blew England away in dramatic fashion in front of a jubilant Brisbane crowd to take a 1-0 lead in The Ashes, 2013 . Before Mitchell Johnson bounced James Anderson out, the worry lines on the faces of Australians were apparent due to the approaching hail storm. They had lost seven of their last nine test matches, Zimbabwe had won more test matches in 2013 than Australia.

And with the clouds approaching and a stubborn Joe Root resisting, the sledging started between Anderson and Bailey (probably an effort to waste more time by Anderson). However, eventually, the second new ball did take out Jimmy Anderson leaving the Australians with a well deserved 381 run victory.

Resuming at the score of 2-24 overnight, Captain Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen were well settled. Pietersen, on his 100th test, threw his wicket away when his hook found the substitute fielder Sabburg at deep fine leg. Then Ian Bell joined Cook at the crease. The two put on 58 runs for 144 balls before Peter Siddle had Bell caught behind . It was yet another soft dismissal for the man in form. Joe Root joined Cook and England were steady at 4-152 when an approaching storm stopped play

England were thinking of the last two days being rained out. However, the skies cleared within two hours. Back on the field, a remarkable collapse ensued (again). In the second ball after the break, Nathan Lyon had Cook edge one to Haddin. Then the out-of-form Matt Prior fell to the most obvious of traps when he found Warner at leg slip off Lyon. Stuart Broad, the pantomime villain , was removed by a Mitchell Johnson short ball. Chris Tremlett provided brief resistance with the admirable Joe Root but Harris removed Tremlett leaving Australia one wicket away. And after a lot of delays and sledging and altercations, the Australians had Anderson when Mitchell Johnson , perhaps fittingly, finished the match with a caught and bowled.

THE SCORES
Australia (1st innings) - 295 (Haddin 94, Broad 6-81)
England   (1st innings) - 136 (Carberry 40, Johnson 4-61)
Australia (2nd innings) - 401-7 d (Warner 124, Tremlett 3-69)
England   (2nd innings) - 179 (Cook 65, Johnson 5-42)

Australia win by 381 runs

MAN OF THE MATCH

Mitchell Johnson. The southpaw has sent out the message to England - Australia mean business

FLOP OF THE MATCH

Johnathan Trott. The English number 3 fell to such obvious traps in both innings and his place is in serious doubt.

VERDICT

What a morale boosting victory for Australia. Their tactics, team selection and most crucially, the execution was spot on. England need to be worried about a few things but it is worth noting that England can come back strongly from huge defeats as evidenced by their victory in India after losing the first test