Perth [Australia], November 22 : Mitchell Starc's ten-wicket haul and an innings four-wicket haul by Scott Boland put Australia in front, as they were set 205 runs to win the first Ashes Test at Optus Stadium in Perth, with England bundled out for yet another under-200 run total, with a half-century stand between tailenders Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse giving the Three Lions a target to fight for.
At the end of the session's play, England was bundled out for 164. They had earlier bundled out Australia for 132 in response to their first innings total of 172. Gus Atkinson (37) top-scored for England, putting up a 50-run stand for the eighth-wicket with Brydon Carse (20). Starc completed a memorable ten-wicket haul in the match, while after a wicketless first innings, Boland looked threatening, taking four crucial, quick wickets.
England started the second session at 59/1, with Ben Duckett (28*) and Ollie Pope (24*) unbeaten.
Pope made his positive intentions known with a drive square of the wicket right in the first over against Cam Green, taking England's lead to above 100 runs.
However, England received two quick setbacks as both of them were dismissed in quick succession to Scott Boland, with Duckett being caught by Smith in the slips for a 40-ball 28, consisting of three fours. Pope was caught behind by keeper Alex Carey for 33 in 57 balls, with two fours. England was three down for 76 runs in 18.3 overs.
In the same over, Boland got Harry Brook's wicket as he carelessly nicked the delivery to Usman Khawaja in slips, making it three wickets in quick succession for him.
In the next over, Mitchell Starc castled Joe Root for just eight runs. Root, who was dismissed for a duck in the first innings, went for a drive, but an inside edge off his bat crashed into the stumps. England was 76/5 in 19.2 overs, in a massive soup.
Skipper Ben Stokes had just started building a partnership with Jamie Smith, but Starc got the 'Bazball' commander-in-chief for a sluggish 11-ball 2. Starc completed his ten-fer and also got Stokes' wicket for the 11th time in Test cricket. England was 6/88 in 24.4 overs.
England crossed the 100-run mark in 26.2 overs, but Jamie Smith (15) perished to Brendan Doggett, leaving England in trouble at 104/7, with a lead of 153 runs.
The tailenders Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse put on a valuable half-century partnership, with Carse unleashing his big hits against the pace trio of Starc, Boland and Doggett. The 150-run mark was up for England in 32.3 overs.
Doggett ended the 50-run stand, getting Carse caught behind for 20 in 20 balls, with a four and two sixes. England was 154/8 in 33.1 overs. In the same over, he got Jofra Archer for five, who took England's lead to 200 runs with a slap through cover region.
Boland ended England's innings, removing Atkinson for a fighting 37 in 32 balls, with two fours and two sixes. England was skittled out for 164, leading by 204 runs and setting the Aussies 205 runs to win the first Test.
Boland (4/33) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia, while Doggett (3/51) and Starc (3/55) also were among the wickets.
At the end of the first session's play, England was 59/1, with Duckett (28*) and Pope (24*) unbeaten.
Earlier, Australia started the day two at 123/9, with Brendan Doggett and Nathan Lyon on the crease, unbeaten at 3* and 0* respectively.
Lyon and Doggett rotated strike to eat further into the deficit, but a fine catch from Ben Duckett at gully ended Australia's inning at 132 in 45.2 overs, and they trailed by 40 runs.
Skipper Ben Stokes (5/23) was the leading wicket-taker for England, getting crucial wickets of Travis Head (21 in 35 balls, with a four) and Cameron Green (24 in 50 balls, with two fours), who were putting on a partnership after the Aussies were restricted to 31/4. However, it was a pace and bounce exhibition from Brydon Carse (3/45) and Jofra Archer (2/11), which gave early jitters to Australians, as they lost debutant opener Jake Weatherald (0), Marnus Labuschagne (9), Steve Smith (17) and Usman Khawaja (2) quickly.
Leading by 40 runs, England were at an advantage. It was upto openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett to stretch that advantage as far as possible in terms of runs. But a brilliant one-handed grab from Mitchell Starc gave England another first-over jolt and Crawley a pair of ducks. England was 0/1 in 0.5 overs.
The pair of Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett stabilised the innings yet again. The left-handed Duckett showed the first signs of aggression, getting a boundary each against Starc and Boland. The duo kept collecting runs with some intelligent strike rotation, with some fine hits falling short of reaching the fence due to the slow outfield, as suggested by four threes collected by Pope.
The half-century stand came for the duo in 10.1 overs.
Duckett survived a close leg-before-wicket call on the final ball of the session, ending the session without any further loss of wickets.
On day one, England won the toss and opted to bat first. Despite Ben Duckett (21 in 20 balls, with four boundaries) showing some fine intent and touch, England had slipped to 39/3, with their star batter Joe Root being removed for a duck by Starc as well. A half-century stand between Ollie Pope (46 in 58 balls, with four boundaries) and Harry Brook stabilised things for England, but they lost half their team at 115 runs.
Later, Brook (52 in 61 balls, with five fours and a six) and Jamie Smith (33 in 22 balls, with six fours) tried to counter-attack, but Starc (7/58) and Doggett (2/27) put a lid on England's scoring, who were also committing batting harakiri with some questionable shot selection. England was undone for 172 runs in 32.5 overs.
Brief Scores: Australia: 132 (Alex Carey 26, Cameron Green 24, Ben Stokes 5/23) vs England: 172 and 164 (Gus Atkinson 37, Ollie Pope 33, Scott Boland 4/33).
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