England take a 1-0 lead in the Ashes after a stunning 169-run win in the first Test in Cardiff as Joe Root puts Australia to the sword with the ball in his hand and Alastair Cook reclaims his golden touch

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England bowled out Australia for a second innings total of 242 on day four on Saturday
Australia collapsed from 97-1 to 151-7 as England's Stuart Broad took 3-39
Joe Root took took the wickets of Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson while Moeen Ali took 3-59

Published: 11:08 EST, 11 July 2015 | Updated: 13:54 EST, 11 July 2015

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He has become England’s leading runscorer in Test cricket and has captained them to success at home against Australia and both home and away against India but few achievements can have matched this for Alastair Cook.

The England captain watched the one-day side revolutionise the way they played in his absence against New Zealand and returned for the Ashes under a new coach in Trevor Bayliss who urged him to shed his conservative instincts.

How Cook has responded to the challenge and how brilliantly and dynamically he has led his team in a quite sensational 169-run first Investec Test victory that has seen a formidable Australian side utterly outclassed.

Alastair Cook celebrates as England won the first Test of the Ashes against Australia by 169 runs in Cardiff on Saturday

Cook raises a stump to the crowd to acknowledge their support after he led England to a stunning victory over Australia in four days

Captain Cook (left) walks off the pitch alongside man of the match Joe Root as England took a 1-0 lead over Australia

England captain Cook took a superb catch at short mid-wicket off of Brad Haddin off the bowling of Moeen Ali

Cook reacted superbly to parry the ball up into the air before catching at the second attempt to send Haddin back to the pavilion

Cook is congratulated by Ben Stokes and James Anderson after his magnificent catch to remove Haddin of Australia

Moeen (centre) wheels away in celebration after the dismissal of Haddin as England took victory in the first Test of the Ashes

England coach Trevor Bayliss on opening win in the Ashes

Everything that Cook has touched in Cardiff has turned to gold, a welcome habit that reached a glorious climax on the fourth day to hurry Australia to their demise in the perfect opening to the biggest series of them all.

By the time Josh Hazlewood swung Moeen Ali high to Joe Root at long off at 5.06pm the Cardiff crowd were singing ‘stand up if you are 1-0 up’ and England were ready to celebrate what has been close to the perfect Test performance.

If there was a moment that summed up the transformation in England’s cricket that has set up this series so dramatically it came when Cook leapt to grab, at the second attempt, a quite magnificent catch at short mid-on.

He had placed himself there in the first innings to see the back of Steve Smith and now Cook’s athleticism led to the dismissal of Brad Haddin to leave Australia deep in the mire in their pursuit of an Ashes record-breaking target of 412.

What’s more, it came off the first ball of a new spell from Moeen Ali, a bowler he has not always trusted as much as he might but who Cook handled with confidence and sensitivity throughout this Test.

Cook had introduced Moeen at an early stage after Australia had recovered from the early loss of Chris Rogers to raise hopes that they would at least go down fighting in this most aggressive and fast-paced of Tests.

Moeen (top centre) took the victory-clinching wicket of Josh Hazelwood to finish with second innings figures of 3-59

David Warner smashed 17 runs off one over from Moeen, but the off-spinner was not to be deterred and eventually removed him lbw

Moeen (right) and Cook (centre) celebrate as Warner is trapped lbw and dismissed for 52 and the Australian wickets began to tumble

Stuart Broad (centre) took three key wickets to send England on their way to victory on day four with some mesmerising bowling

The Ashes elevates Broad's performances to another level and he removed Chris Rogers, Steven Smith and Michael Clarke

Broad (right) celebrates with wicket-keeper Jos Buttler after dismissing Steven Smith and propelling England closer to victory

OUCH! Alastair Cook on being hit in the crotch

Yet the off-spinner disappeared for 22 runs off just two overs, with David Warner taking a particular shine to him by smashing his second one for 17, and the experiment was quickly shelved when Cook turned instead to Mark Wood.

Warner had ridden his luck during a world-class opening burst from Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson but was just beginning to prey on English nerves by moving on to 52 out of Australia’s 97 for one ahead of the last over before lunch.

It was then that Cook turned again to Moeen and was thrillingly vindicated when Warner was trapped off the third ball in what proved the most significant moment of the whole day and, who knows, perhaps even the series.

The door was ajar for England and they burst through it, most thrillingly Broad who bowled better and with more pace and hostility than he has done at any time since knee surgery at the end of last season.

There is something about the big Ashes occasion that brings the best out of Broad, as Australia found out to their cost when he produced spells that won Test matches against them at the Oval in 2009 and Durham two years ago.

This was almost as good, with Broad adding to his wicket of Rogers by taking out the big two in Smith and Michael Clarke with perfectly executed plans.

Michael Clarke, the captain of the Australia team, could only make four runs before edging Broad into the slips and he toiled in this Test

Root (third left) celebrates after taking the wicket of Mitchell Starc, and swiftly followed it up by removing Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Johnson provided some resistance with the bat for Australia against England on Saturday, making 77 before falling to Joe Root

Fast bowler Mark Wood (left) leads the celebrations after removing Adam Voges of Australia for only one run at Sophia Gardens

Wood also removed Shane Watson lbw for the 14th time in 35 innings and he will almost certainly be replaced by Mitchell Marsh

England, presumably at the behest of the coach who knows him so well in Trevor Bayliss, have been bowling wide outside off-stump to Smith and here he pushed at one he had no need to play and gave Ian Bell his second slip catch.

Broad has been a consistent thorn in the side of Clarke in three Ashes series, invariably with the short ball, and the Australian captain must have expected another short one here when he wafted lamely to point.

Clarke has failed twice in this Test and has been a curiously anonymous figure in the field. Shane Warne, busy in Las Vegas, might not believe it but he has even been out-maneuvered here by the ‘funky’ captaincy of Cook.

When Adam Voges fell to the ebullient figure of Wood, four wickets had gone down for nine runs in 35 balls and all that was left for Australia was damage limitation before the second Test at Lord’s next Thursday.

A stand of 73 between Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc offered resistance, but not before Cook’s wonder-catch to dismiss Haddin and yet another lbw decision against Shane Watson that yet again he reviewed.

It could be the last time England see a man who has been out lbw 14 times in 35 innings against them and who now looks certain to lose his place to Mitchell Marsh for Lord's.

Johnson was expected to be a danger to England in this series but not with the bat - until he hit 77 and delayed what had become an inevitable English victory until Cook’s last successful move.

Mitchell Starc was well caught by Adam Lyth (right) as England drew first blood in the series with a victory by 169 runs

Lyth (left) also took the catch of Johnson (second right), again off of the bowling of Root

As well as making almost 200 runs in the Test match, Root took two wickets and the catch of Josh Hazelwood that secured victory

Root’s off-spin had gone for 17 in an over at the hands of Johnson but Cook kept him on and he repaid him by dismissing Starc, who is struggling with an ankle injury and looks certain to miss at least next week’s second Test.

Then man of the match Root repeated the trick by dismissing the other Mitchell and was almost inevitably under the catch that gave Moeen his third wicket and completed the most memorable of four days in the Welsh capital.

The start to the season and New Zealand’s visit was clearly a watershed moment for English cricket. Now they have taken it one stage further. Roll on Lord’s and the rest of this captivating series.