Nineteen wickets fell yesterday on an opening day of carnage in the first Ashes Test, with England’s attack led by skipper Ben Stokes bowling them into a position of strength after Australia dismissed the tourists for 172.
A rampaging Mitchell Starc took 7-58 to put England on the back foot after Stokes won the toss on a fine day at a packed Perth Stadium and chose to bat.
Harry Brook (52) and Ollie Pope (46) offered the only resistance as they crumbled after lunch, but England’s elite fast bowlers, led by an exceptional Stokes with 5-23, fought back to reduce the hosts to 123-9 at stumps, trailing by 49.
Photo: AFP
Nathan Lyon was on 3 with Brendan Doggett yet to score.
There was early drama in Australia’s reply when Usman Khawaja failed to open with Marnus Labuschagne, instead walking out with debutant Jake Weatherald.
In a brutal introduction to Test cricket, Weatherald went for a second-ball duck, left on the floor by a Jofra Archer bullet and given out leg before wicket.
Labuschagne fended off 41 balls for 9 before he too succumbed to the sheer speed of Archer, bowled by a fuller delivery, and when Steve Smith fell for 17 to Brydon Carse in the next over, caught by Brook at slip, it was game on.
Khawaja, who was feeling stiff, came in at four, but lasted just six balls, blown away by a Carse bouncer that took a nick to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, leaving Australia reeling at 31-4.
Cameron Green (24), Travis Head (21), Alex Carey (26) and Starc (12) all got starts, but in a reflection of the depth of England’s pace stocks, Stokes removed them when he brought himself on.
Starc bagged three wickets in an intimidating opening spell, including Joe Root for a duck, before returning to send Stokes packing in his first over after the lunch break, then mopping up.
All five previous Tests in Perth have been won by the side batting first, but England did their best to challenge that, getting off to a horror start.
Veteran strike weapon Starc delivered as he has so many times before, enticing a thick edge from Zak Crawley on his sixth ball that Khawaja did well to collect low at slip, the opener gone for a duck.
Starc has now taken a wicket in the first over of an innings 24 times.
At the other end, Ben Duckett settled his nerves with a textbook drive off Scott Boland to bank the first four of the series, but just as he was getting going, Starc pounced again, trapping him leg before wicket for 21 to leave England tottering on 33-2.
That brought Root to the crease in his latest campaign for an elusive first century in Australia.
He only lasted seven balls, edging a seaming delivery into the safe hands of Labuschagne at third slip.
Pope survived the furnace and was composed before Green came on and he was out leg before wicket, leaving the visitors on 105-4 at lunch.
Brook hit Scott Boland for a six in the first over after the break, before Starc again worked his magic, taking out Stokes’ stumps with an inswinger when the captain was on 6.
A fearless Brook raced to his 14th Test half-century before feathering a short ball to Carey, earning Doggett his maiden Test wicket on debut.
Starc then removed Gus Atkinson cheaply to give him the 17th five-wicket haul of his career and with Doggett they ruthlessly cleaned up the tail.
Luka Doncic on Monday scored 36 points as the in-form Los Angeles Lakers powered to their sixth straight victory with a 100-92 defeat of the Houston Rockets. A crucial showdown between the third and fourth-ranked NBA Western Conference teams ended with the Lakers pulling away in the final minute of the fourth quarter to claim an impressive win on the road. The victory gives the Lakers (43-25) a valuable cushion over the Rockets (41-26) as they jostle for post-season positions in the West. Doncic was once again instrumental in dragging the Lakers over the line while a hard-nosed defensive effort
‘THAT’S US’: Before each WBC game, Venezuelan players gather around a drum in the dugout for the tambor, coastal Afro-Venezuelan music and dance Venezuelan players on Monday night danced in the dugout before the first pitch, then pranced past Italy and into their nation’s first World Baseball Classic (WBC) final. Ronald Acuna Jr, Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez hit run-scoring, two-out singles in a rapid seventh-inning rally that sparked a 4-2 victory and vaulted Venezuela into a title matchup against the US. Players celebrated in the clubhouse before quickly turning focus to the final. “A lot of dancing,” Garcia said. “We have to show the world who Venezuela is.” Before each WBC game, Venezuelan players gather around a drum in the dugout for
Japan’s national baseball team manager Hirokazu Ibata has said he would step down following Japan’s 8-5 loss to Venezuela in Miami in the quarter-finals of the World Baseball Classic. The newspaper Sports Hochi reported Ibata saying it was his “intention to resign.” Japan are the defending champions and had won the event three times. It marked Japan’s first failure to reach the WBC semi-finals despite a team stacked with MLB talent including Shohei Ohtani. “The result is everything,” Sports Hochi reported Ibata as saying. “Although we lost this time, I hope Japan will grow stronger and win next time.” Japan
Retired NBA big man LaMarcus Aldridge, a seven-time All-Star, is to visit Taiwan early next month for the first time to promote an NBA event, the league’s Taiwan Web site said on Monday. During his visit, Aldridge would meet fans on April 4 and 5 at Banciao Stadium in New Taipei City during the Rising Stars Invitational Taiwan Regional Qualifiers, NBA Taiwan wrote on Facebook. Tickets became available on FamiTicket on Monday at noon and can be reserved until 11:59pm on March 31, with a maximum purchase of two tickets per person, it said. The tickets are divided into three
RSS