“Nice Shot, Garry”: Pat Cummins’ Reaction To Nathan Lyon Four Off Stuart Broad At Edgbaston

Australia captain Pat Cummins was enthralled to see spinner Nathan Lyon hitting an eye-catching boundary off England pacer Stuart Broad during the business end of the recently concluded first Ashes 2023 Test match at Edgbaston. Lyon, in fact, hit Broad for a couple of fours down the ground on Tuesday. Cummins, however, specifically pointed out at the second one which further brought Australia closer to a 2-wicket win.

Having picked four wickets each in the second innings to play a titular role in bundling out the home team for 273 in 66.2 overs, Cummins and Lyon batted with purpose and maturity to not let a batting blunder come in between them and a victory in what was a tense finish to yet another England-Australia Birmingham Test.

Pat Cummins’ Reaction To Nathan Lyon Four Off Stuart Broad At Edgbaston

Needing 11 runs to seal a 281-run chase, Lyon treated Broad with utter disrespect by hitting a fairly decent delivery over the mid-on for four runs. A balanced combination of slogging with a straight bat, Lyon connecting the ball with the required timing reduced the required number of runs to a single-digit figure.

Cummins, who was speaking to former England captain Michael Atherton during the post-match presentation ceremony hosted by Sky Sports Cricket, revealed how he reacted to a shot which also drew a similar reaction from the batter.

“I looked at him [Nathan Lyon], he walked past and I said ‘Nice shot, Garry!’ Think he was happy.”

While Lyon scored 16* (28), Cummins scored 44* (73) with the help of four fours and two sixes. Having already scored a couple of half-centuries in this format, the right-handed batter registered a third-highest individual score in Test cricket.

Pat Cummins Was Confident Of Australian Chasing Down The Target

Coming out to bat at No. 9 in the 73rd over, Cummins asserted that he was confident of Australia’s chances of chasing down the target in spite of 72 more runs to be scored. Cummins, who faced a majority of the 123 deliveries which were bowled in his presence, shared a match-winning 55-run ninth-wicket partnership alongside Lyon.

“[Australia’s chances?] Pretty good. The wicket didn’t have too many demons in it. I thought it was well within our grasp.”

The immensity of the 30-year old player’s knock can be observed from the fact that this is the highest score by a No. 9 (or lower) batter in a successful run-chase in Test history.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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