Mitchell Starc and first-over wickets – a match made in heaven! The Australian pacer picked up a wicket in the opening over of a Test match for an incredible 26th time as he sent Ben Duckett packing on the final ball of his first over.
The Englishman was brought on strike after Zak Crawley called for a single on the 5th ball of the over and looked confident as he took guard. However, Starc bowled the perfect line with the ball starting at off stump and swinging towards the slip cordon, tempting Duckett into showing the full face of the bat. However, the ball did enough and picked up the outside edge before comfortably nestling into Marnus Labuschagne’s hands at first slip.
Ollie Pope departed for a three-ball duck in Starc’s second over after trying to cut an awkward length ball down to third man. However, the pace left him stunned as the ball caught the inside edge and smashed into the stumps as England were 5/2 after 2.3 overs.
Learning from one’s mistakes is a key event in a Test series as the visitors showed some grit, with Crawley and Joe Root out in the middle, battling the Australian pace attack. Despite the likes of Michael Neser and Cameron Green also coming into the attack alongside regulars Scott Boland and Brendan Doggett, Starc was the only one who managed to pick up wickets.
This allowed Root to settle-in as he scored a calculated 33 runs from 60 balls heading into the Tea break. Meanwhile, Crawley seemed to have put his two ducks from the First Test behind him as he scored 61 from 81 balls, with England 98/2 after 24 overs in the first session.
As the players gear up to take to the field for the second session, it is clear the English batters will look to dig in and carve out a big partnership that could put them in a commanding position on Day 1. The Australians, on the other hand, will look to get back into a solid bowling rhythm after the break as they will try and topple the visitors’ middle order for as few runs as possible.
This Test is well-poised as we are ready to get underway. Doggett is running in to bowl the first ball of the 25th over to Root, let’s go!