SKY'S THE LIMIT FOR PILOT USMAN

LICENCED pilot Usman Khawaja is qualified to take the controls of jumbo jets – and England ran out of runway at Edgbaston because the Aussie opener parked the Airbus.

- MIKE WALTERS

Now Ben Stokes will head to Lord’s next week on a wing and a prayer that his best chance of recapturing the Ashes has not disappeared.

England’s two-wicket defeat was agony for another sell-out crowd, millions clustered around the TV at home and those in transit struggling to find enough broadband width for score updates.

But for Stokes and his heartbroken players, the search for those two wickets was like waiting at a baggage carousel for luggage that never shows up.

Ultimately, it was Aussie skipper Pat Cummins’ sensible aggression which carried Australia over the line.

But the groundwork for a shattering England defeat was laid by Khawaja’s 206 runs in the match.