Nathan Lyon on song after taking key Ashes wicket of Alastair Cook The ghost of Faf du Plessis has been well and truly erased for Nathan Lyon. It is nearly a year ago to the day since the South African debutant managed, in an incredible exhibition of intransigence, to block out a draw against Australia on the fifth day in Adelaide. If there has been a recurring criticism of Lyon's game since, it is that he had not been able to finish a job for Australia in the dusk of a Test match when it is a spinner's time to shine. But he has rammed home with credentials in the first Ashes Test by breaking the dam wall of England's resistance on Sunday at the Gabba with the vital wicket of the stubborn Alastair Cook. The England captain was a long way off replicating what du Plessis achieved - even with interruptions from above there was a full day to go on Monday and he was running out of support cast - but Lyon's breakthrough after Sunday's hailstorm in Brisbane was what sent the defiant tourists spiralling to their fate. He might have needed a quick read over the words of Australia's victory tune, Under The Southern Cross I Stand, before leading them into song on Sunday night but, gosh, it will have been belted out with gusto. Lyon was passed songmaster duties by Mike Hussey when he retired in January and Australia had not won a Test since. There is a line in the mostly overlooked Cameron Crowe film Vanilla Sky that goes like this: "Without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain't as sweet," and it sprang to mind as Australia's tumultuous year of defeat and dysfunction was finally relegated to the rearview mirror. The light at the end of the tunnel took its time to appear in full glory, thanks to the weather, and it was almost as if someone upstairs was messing with them when an electrical storm beat down on the Gabba in mid-afternoon, followed by a second rain break later on. Then, when it appeared the job had been finished off with the run-out of the last man, Joe Root, late on the fourth day, England was spared once again. Lyon, taking the ball at the bowler's end, was so enthusiastic to put the game away that he clipped the stumps prematurely with his elbow and Root, way short of his ground and having cursed his tail-end partner James Anderson for leaving him stranded, survived. It was a clumsy moment for the off-spinner but did not dilute his contribution. Often and unfairly maligned, it was Lyon who stepped up after hailstones pelted down on the ground, delaying play for 90 minutes, to land the key blow.