Australia beats England by 9 wickets to open Ashes series

After restricting England's second innings to 297, the Australians needed just 20 runs to clinch the match

Australia won the Ashes series opener by nine wickets on December 11 with 1 1/2 days to spare after Nathan Lyon picked up his 400th test wicket and quickly added three more to dismantle England's bid to save the first test.

England resumed Day 4 at 220-2 and Lyon struck in the fourth over, triggering a collapse that netted eight wickets for 77 runs as the visiting team finished the match in a similar vein to how it started.

After restricting England's second innings to 297, the Australians needed just 20 runs to clinch the match.