Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson’s prowess with the ball set up a perfect Day-5 for the first Test match of the Ashes 2023 at Edgbaston on Monday.
Australia ended the day with a score of 107/3 with Usman Khawaja and night watchman Scott Boland unbeaten on the crease with scores of 34(81)* and 13(19)* respectively. Australia started the session aggressively as David Warner and Khawaja looked to gather runs quickly. They neutralised the threat of the new ball with their precision and flawless batting technique.
Warner looked in his best shape with a couple of shots he played to find boundaries. It looked as if both batters would do the majority of the work in the final session, but Robinson inspired his team to make a comeback as he dismissed Warner for a score of 34(81).
After that Stuart Broad joined the action and stole the entire limelight with his fierce bowling. He sent Marnus Labuschagne off with a beauty. Broad has been Marnus Labuschagne’s nightmare and the Australian has been doing his best to avoid this matchup. But once he came face to face with the English bowler the result was clear.
The ball swung away from Marnus, he ended up kicking the ball and it went straight into the hands of Jonny Bairstow.
Broad struck once again and this time he got the big fish – Steve Smith. He went for the shot but found a slight knick and Bairstow caught it quite comfortably.
Boland came in to see off the rest of the day and he managed to do so. Australia will be back to chase the remaining 174 runs on the final day.
Earlier in the day, Lyon and Cummins kept England on the edge for the majority of the session. With Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow on the pitch, England went on with their usual style of play.
But Lyon with his experience managed to halt their progress as he dismissed Bairstow following an LBW for a score of 20(39).
Stokes soon followed the footsteps of Bairstow two overs later as he ended up losing his wicket to Cummins. In the battle of skipper against skipper, Cummins emerged victorious as he trapped Stokes right in front of the wicket. The English skipper went for a review with height factor as the only thing that could have saved his wicket. But fortune favoured Australia and Stokes went back with a knock of 43(66).
Even after going down to 7 wickets, England didn’t succumb to the situation and went on with their style of play. Moeen Ali was next in line to lose his wicket. Josh Hazlewood came into the attack, he set up the field which indicated his thought process of bowling a short ball. His plan worked perfectly as Moeen tried to play a pull shot but the ball gently brushed off his glove and landed in the gloves of Carey.
Ollie Robinson and Stuart Broad showed some fight and managed to keep their partnership alive for seven overs. But they couldn’t survive Lyon’s fierce spin bowling attack, Robinson lost his wicket against the spinner for a score of 27(44).
Stuart Broad and James Anderson tried to stitch up a partnership for the final wicket stand. They survived for the next five overs but, Cummins came in to put an end to their partnership. He dismissed Andrson for a score of 12(14).
Before Lunch, England tried to bounce back with Joe Root taking charge with the bat. He opened his account with a beautiful flick towards the mid-wicket area to find the boundary for a four off Boland.
On the next delivery, he went for a reverse scoop to help the ball get past the fence for a six. Once again Root made his intentions clear as he executed a reverse scoop to find the third consecutive boundary in the second over of the day.
In the first 20 minutes of the day, both Root and Ollie Pope played Bazball in its purest form. But Cummins got Australia back into the match as he ripped Pope’s defence apart with an inswinging yorker and sent the bails flying off the stumps. Pope departed with a score of 14(16).
Even after Pope’s departure, Root went on with his aggressive approach to get runs on the board at a brisk pace. But Nathan Lyon’s arrival in the attack after drinks changed the complexion of the entire game. Root came out to play a big sweep but ended up missing the ball completely. Alex Carey had a simple task to take the bails off the stumps.
Root walked back to the pavilion for a score of 46(55). After this wicket, it was clear that this day will be fought between Lyon and the Bazball.
In the first session, the veteran Australian spinner emerged victorious as he dismissed Root’s partner in crime Harry Brook. There was a small buildup before Brook’s dismissal as a couple of dot balls added a certain amount of pressure on England’s batter. He tried to release the tension with an unexpected pull shot for a ball that was too low for such a shot. Still, he didn’t hold back and executed the shot but it went straight into the hands of Marnus Labuschagne. Lyon got the second wicket of the game for a score of 46(52).
Before the end of the first session, Jonny Bairstow had a moment of scare as Boland’s appeal for an LBW. The on-field umpire declared him out but he went on to challenge the decision with a review. In the DRS it became evident that the ball went missing the stumps.
England ended up with a score of 155/5 in 37 overs.
Brief Scores: England 393/8 d & 273 (Joe Root 46(55), Harry Brook 46(52) and Pat Cummins 4/63) vs Australia 386 & 107/3 (Usman Khawaja 34(81)*; David Warner 36; Stuart Broad 2-28).
