Image courtesy of: The Metro

Anderson and Bell were the star performers for England

England landed the first knockout blow of the Investec Ashes series after emerging triumphant against Australia by 14 runs in a Test match that was riddled with spills, thrills, chills and controversies.

Australia’s 19-year-old debutant Ashton Agar, known for his left-arm spin, wowed the crowd with his batting as he recorded the highest score for a number 11 batsman in Test history.

England’s Ian Bell gave the Barmy Army fans something to shout about as he sent a message to Australia with a brilliant century.

Trent Bridge erupted as England skipper Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat first in slightly overcast conditions.

Australia captain Michael Clarke admitted that he would have also chosen to bat first if he had won the toss.

“I would have batted, but don’t mind bowling as it’s a bit overcast,” he said.

With the crowd buzzing and the umpire shouting play, another installment of the historic Ashes series was underway.

Australia pace bowler James Pattinson drew first blood for the tourists as he removed captain Cook early into England’s innings.

Joe Root and Kevin Pietersen were both dismissed in quick succession by Peter Siddle, leaving England and Jonathan Trott on the back foot early on.

Trott played a magnificent innings and steadied the England innings with a brilliant 48, which included nine boundaries before Siddle came roaring back with a peach of a delivery to flatten Trott’s stumps.

After Trott was dismissed, England’s batting line-up continued to collapse, but they managed to put 215 runs on the board thanks to Jonny Bairstow’s 37 and Stuart Broad’s 24 before being bowled out.

Siddle was definitely the pick of the Australian bowlers with a five-wicket haul, while James Pattinson picked up three wickets and Mitchell Starc chipped in with two.

Australia’s innings got off to a very shaky start as openers Shane Watson and Chris Rogers were both dismissed early on, while Ed Cowan found himself back in the pavilion after getting out for a golden duck.

Captain Clarke also failed to trouble the scorers, which surprised many as he had come off a brilliant 2012, where he had scored more than 1,000 Test runs.

Steven Smith steadied the Australian ship with a sensible 53 before the wickets continued to tumble once again.

With the scoreboard reading 117/9, England were jumping for joy as Phillip Hughes and Agar were the only two batsmen remaining at the crease.

Hughes and Agar played some sensible cricket as they knocked the ball around for singles and doubles, while also taking full advantage of any loose deliveries.

Soon enough, both players registered their own half-centuries and the England bowlers, along with captain Cook, looked as if they were going to tear their hair out.

Agar looked to be the most comfortable batsman at the crease by far and didn’t hesitate to chance him arms.

As the 19-year-old debutant approached ever closer to his century, Broad stuck the final nail in the coffin as he dismissed Agar just two agonising runs short of his century.

Hughes also deserved a lot of credit for hanging around with Agar and finishing unbeaten on 81 as the pair’s 163-run partnership had taken Australia to 280 and given them a lead of 65 runs.

James Anderson bowled brilliantly for his five-wicket haul, while Steven Finn and off-spinner Graeme Swann took two wickets apiece and Stuart Broad picked up one wicket as well.

Trailing by 65 runs and still needing to make a score on top of that, England were dealt two early blows as Starc knocked over Root and Trott.

Cook and Pietersen gave the England innings some life as they both recorded half-centuries before being dismissed.

However, Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell was by far the best batsman out of both teams, well maybe except for Agar, as he scored a fluent 109 off 267 deliveries.

Later on into the day, there was a lot of controversy over Stuart Broad as the pace bowler clearly edged a delivery to Brad Haddin behind the stumps, but the umpire was not convinced that he had hit it.

Reviews showed that Broad had clearly hit the ball, but Australia were unable to review the decision as they had used up both their reviews already.

With Broad refusing to walk, he went on to score 65 as England posted a respectable score of 375 to leave Australia needing 311 runs for victory.

Siddle and Starc shared the bowling honours with three wickets apiece, while Pattinson and Agar picked up two wickets each.

With 311 runs standing between them and going 1-0 up in the series, Watson and Rogers got Australia off to a good start.

However, as usual, Watson was dismissed just short of his half-century and Cowan and Clarke soon followed him back to the dressing room.

Steven Smith and Hughes failed to produce any of their first innings magic either as both batsmen were dismissed cheaply as well.

Agar was promoted up the order, but could only manage 14 runs before he too was removed.

Vice-captain Haddin and Pattinson gave England quite a scare towards the end as they registered a 65-run partnership before yet another controversial decision saw England take a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series.

Haddin was dismissed on 71 by James Anderson after Cook decided to appeal against a caught behind decision.

Initially the on-field umpires had given it not out, but upon further review it looked as though Haddin had hit it, but no one could be certain that he had.

However, in the end, the third umpire thought it was out and both the England players and fans were going berserk at having taken a 1-0 lead in the series after a very close shave.

Anderson was unstoppable once again as he took a five-wicket haul, while Broad and Swann snapped up two wickets apiece and Joe Root also got in the act by picking up his first Test wicket.

Australia skipper Michael Clarke was visibly disappointed with the result, but held his head high and praised his men for putting up an extraordinary fight.

“The boys can hold their heads high,” he said. “It was a wonderful game. Credit to England, they fought really hard. The two best performers were Ian Bell and James Anderson so they deserved the win. Everybody, the players and the fans, have enjoyed this game. We get another crack in four days.”

Clarke was also unhappy with some of the reviews he asked for.

“I’m not happy with my use, as I haven’t got many right,” he added. “England have used it better than I have.”

England captain Alastair Cook was over the moon at having taken the lead and admitted that it wouldn’t have been possible without Anderson’s ten wickets.

“I said I would be the only England captain not to go bald, but days like today won’t help,” he joked. “Without a doubt you are in control out there. Australia fought incredible hard, but we just hung in there. Jimmy was outstanding. He always wants one more over; 13 was quite a lot. He’s a world-class bowler and sometimes you just use him. It happened to be Jimmy’s day and Jimmy’s game. He said the cramp was my fault.

Cook also took the opportunity to praise Bell for his match-saving century.

“Under that pressure it was a real innings of character, determination and skill,” he said. “Australia bowled very well. The way the whole order batted, credit to all the guys. You’ve seen in this game what a good side Australia are.”

Anderson was named as the Man of the Match for his ten wickets, and he said: “It had the nerves going a bit. The ground has been good to me over the years. It generally swings whether conventional or reverse, which ever way is a bonus. Cooky’s catch [off Siddle] made up for the one he dropped before. If I’m bowling 13 overs spells it will be difficult! But I love playing cricket. The Ashes is right up there.”