Man of the match: Joe Root
RESURGENT England secured a surprise Ashes lead with a wonderful 169-run win in the first Test in Cardiff.
Man of the match Joe Root scored 134 and 60 with the bat and took two second innings wickets as the hosts unexpectedly dominated the start of the series.
Yorkshire lad Root even had the final word, safely catching Josh Hazlewood's swipe off Moeen Ali at long-off to finish the job.
Ashes holders Australia had approached the series confidently, having whitewashed England in 2013-14 - and, despite losing the toss, Michael Clarke's men made early inroads at Sophia Gardens.
Adam Lyth was caught off Josh Hazlewood in the slips by David Warner before Alastair Cook, on the cut, nicked one behind to Brad Haddin off the spin Nathan Lyon.
In the next over, Ian Bell was plumb lbw to Mitchell Starc - and England were rocking at 43-3 before lunch on the first day.
Then Root arrived at the crease and, after being dropped on nought by Haddin, he batted through the whole of the afternoon session with county team-mate Gary Ballance.
Ballance made 61 before being trapped lbw by Hazlewood just after tea - but a partnership with Ben Stokes was enough to help Root bring up his seventh Test century, and second against Australia.
The Aussies were far from finished, however - and both Root and Stokes fell to Starc before Jos Buttler exposed the tail with minutes left to go on the opening day.
Still, England had made 343-7, taking the game to the tourists by scoring at almost four runs per over. All they needed now was for the tail to wag.
Wag it did, thanks mainly to Moeen who made 77 as England added 87 more runs for the loss of their final three wickets on the second morning.
Australia's reply began well and England had to be patient after the relatively early wicket of Warner.
Chris Rogers - the overall top scorer in the back-to-back series of 2013 and 2013-14 - had settled in for another average-boosting score alongside world number one ranked batsman Steve Smith.
But, of Rogers' joint-record seven successive Test scores over 50, none had been translated into a ton - and he fell in Cardiff on 95, caught behind by Buttler off the impressive Mark Wood.
Indeed, the Aussies would pay the price for getting themselves in and out - Smith made 33, Clarke 38, and Adam Voges 31. Australia were 258-5 at the close and England had battled back well.
It got even better on the third morning as Australia lost their last five wickets for 43 runs - and their last three wickets for four runs.
Shane Watson was predictably lbw to Stuart Broad before Lyon was trapped in front by Wood with the score still on 265.
A regular feature of the 2013-14 series was Haddin's ability to guide the lower order through troubled times - but, having made 22, he was caught behind off James Anderson - and England were into the tail and bowling with their tails up.
Yes, the long-time strike duo of Broad and Anderson was at it again and, after Haddin's dismissal, Johnson and Starc fell in successive overs to give England a cracking first innings lead of 122.
England then were already batting for a second time before lunch on the third day, leaving Australia with only one way back into the match - getting quick wickets.
At least the tourists delivered on this front with Cook out before the interval, caught by Lyon at backward point off Starc, and Ballance out for a duck straight after the break, caught behind off Hazlewood.
Before tea, the Aussies had also managed to snare Lyth, caught brilliantly by Clarke off Lyon for 37 - but that only served to bring Root to the crease once more.
Batting with Bell, who - by contrast - was in dire need of runs, the pair decisively took the match away from Australia, with both going onto make 60.
Bell was out first, bowled by Johnson for the left-armer's first wicket of the series - coming, as it did, after an agonising 216 balls.
Root was bowled by Hazlewood and, a little later, Stokes by Starc - as the Aussies improved their accuracy at the stumps.
Meanwhile, with Buttler caught behind off an attempted reverse sweep off Lyon, England were again left just with the tail. This time, though, Durham quick Wood took up the mantle.
An entertaining cameo featuring four fours and a six into the gantry meant he finished on 32 not out, and - when Lyon accounted for Anderson with the last ball of day three - England had made it to 289 for a mammoth lead of 411.
Cook's men had impressed with their run rate and, scoring at more than four an over in both innings, they had shown no fear of Australia after what had happened 18 months ago.
Importantly, this also gave the hosts plenty of time to take another 10 wickets - and Anderson and Broad produced an opening spell of real intent at the start of the fourth day.
Rogers, having been dropped by Root off Anderson, did not make the most of his second life, edging Broad to Bell at second slip for 10. The early blow left Australia on 19-1.
But, despite several close calls, it looked as if that was going to be the only wicket all morning - that was until Cook opted to give Moeen a twirl just before lunch.
Magnificently, it worked - with Warner trapped in front to leave Australia 97-2. The mood of both dressing rooms had been dramatically altered.
The proof of this came straight after lunch as England tore through the Aussie middle order.
Smith was out for 33 for a second time in the match, paying the price for a tentative prod at Broad which only served to find the edge and then Bell at second slip.
Skipper Clarke barely made a mark, hitting a single four before Broad accounted for him too, inducing a catch by Stokes at backward point.
Then Wood found the edge of Voges' bat, with Buttler taking an easy catch behind - and Australia were in tatters on 106-5.
Everything seemed to be falling just right for England - but they had worked hard for the type of fortune which allowed Cook to catch Haddin at the second attempt at short midwicket.
When Watson was out lbw yet again - this time to Wood - England took tea having enjoyed another near-perfect session.
England, then, needed just three more wickets for a 1-0 lead - but they were not immediately forthcoming as Johnson and Starc, having failed to derail England with the ball, threatened to do it with the bat.
The pair had gradually accumulated a partnership worth 72 as Cook turned to his spinners ahead of the new ball.
But, ultimately, the new ball was not required thanks to more Root magic.
First, Starc was dismissed caught with great alertness by Lyth at slip after the ball had been parried by Cook at gully. Then, the Yorkshire Lyth-Root combo struck again to remove Johnson.
At 242-9, the match was left simply waiting for its final blow. Moeen delivered it as Hazlewood, with no winning cards left in his hand, took a huge swipe only to find Root inside the boundary rope.
England had done it - a deserved 1-0 lead was theirs with six different bowlers taking wickets across the two innings.
With the bat too, England had performed - as, having failed to post a single 400+ score during the last two Ashes series, they did it at the first attempt this time around.
Of course, there is a long way to go yet - and, remember, Australia need only draw the series to retain the Ashes urn. But there are early signs of trouble for the tourists.
For the likes of Rogers, Haddin, Clarke, Voges and Watson - who are all, like me, on the wrong side of 30 - this might be a last Ashes series.
And, like England found to their cost Down Under in 2006-07, it might be a case of one tour too many.
Certainly, Australia's so-called 'Dad's Army' compared badly with the youthful exuberance of Wood, Stokes, and the choirboy appearance of Root.
Skipper Cook, himself, was actually a chorister in his youth - and even he looks young for his age, and perhaps younger now than he has for a while.
The pressures of captaincy have been relieved a little recently by the introduction of a new coach, Trevor Bayliss, and a new, more positive mindset.
Cook undoubtedly had his finest game as captain in this first Test in Cardiff, balancing his bowling attack and keeping on the pressure with his field placings.
But Bayliss, himself an Aussie, knows the Baggy Greens will not lie down in the way that England did in their two recent whitewashes, and he has already warned the hosts to be wary of any complacency.
The two teams reconvene on Thursday at Lord's, where the wounded Aussies will be hoping to win the toss and bat better than they did in Wales.
THE ASHES 2015
| 8-11 July | FIRST: England 430 & 289 beat Australia 308 & 242 by 169 runs | Cardiff |
| 16-20 July | SECOND TEST | Lord's |
| 29-2 August | THIRD TEST | Edgbaston |
| 6-10 August | FOURTH TEST | Trent Bridge |
| 20-24 August | FIFTH TEST | The Oval |
CENTURIES
134 Joe Root (England) in the first Test, Cardiff
FIVE-WICKET HAULS
5-114 Mitchell Starc (Australia) in the first Test, Cardiff
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