England wins first Ashes Test match

The Ashes is the five-Test series contested between Australia and England national cricket teams. From what I read, they are supposed to do it at least every four years, but it's usually more often than that.  The last series, in Australia, held over the austral summer in 2013 into 2014, was a whitewash for England, with the Aussies winning all five matches.  The Ashes was originally a line in a newspaper article, and now it is represented by a small brown urn filled supposedly with the ashes of a burnt bail (the crosspieces on the wicket -- if a bowler dislodges the bails with the ball by hitting the wicket, that's one way of getting an out).

So now that England is hosting, they'd like to regain a little honor.  And with a win in the first Test in Cardiff, Wales, that helps the honor a bit.   Their first innings was a little rough, but their current best batsman Joe Root got l34 runs to give them a good total.  They didn't get as many in the second innings, leaving Australia with a total of 412 to "chase", i.e. if they scored 413 runs in their second innings, they'd win, otherwise, England would win.  412 is not a mountain too high, but it is pretty challenging.

Well, with some good bowling, England didn't let them get close, and won handily by 169 runs.  Stuart Broad had four wickets for the UK boys.  Moeen Ali got a crucial wicket just before lunch.

Ashes 2015: Superb England hammer Australia to take 1-0 lead