Day 1 report: Chris Woakes grabbed four wickets for 52 runs after Stuart Broad entered an elite list as England restricted Australia to 299/8 on Day 1 of the fourth Ashes 2023 Test at Manchester’s Old Trafford on Thursday.
The opening day of the penultimate Test witnessed Broad become only the second fast bowler and the fifth bowler overall to grab 600 or more wickets in Test cricket after dismissing Travis Head shortly after tea.
Broad collected two wickets for himself, having dismissed in-form opener Usman Khawaja for 3 with the new ball after England opted to field in the penultimate Test.
The Australian batters got off to a series of promising starts, Marnus Labuschagne and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, the only batters to go past 50, getting dismissed for identical scores of 51. Head, who pulled a short ball from Broad to get caught by Joe Root near fine leg, fell two short of his half-century while Steve Smith departed for 41.
David Warner, who has managed to retain his place at the top of the order despite a mixed run so far in the series, became the first of Woakes’ four wickets, getting caught-behind for 32.
The Aussies, who are leading the series 2-1 following victories in the first two Tests, recovered from the shaky start and went to lunch on 107/2. Though they lost the wickets of Smith and Labuschagne in the second session, a score of 187/4 didn’t exactly put them in a position of peril.
The slide however, began after Woakes trapped Cameron Green (16) leg-before in the 63rd over, ending a 65-run sixth-wicket partnership with Marsh and dismissing the latter four deliveries later in the same over. Woakes would grab his fourth wicket shortly before stumps by getting Aussie wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey caught-behind for 20.
At close of play, Mitchell Starc was batting on 23 with skipper Pat Cummins on 1 for company.
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