Australia Vs England, 1st Test: Starc-Stokes Unstoppable As Record 19 Wickets Fall On Day 1 In Perth - Watch

It was an opening Ashes day between Australia and England like no other. There was bounce, there was variation, there was swing and more than a dozen of wickets on day 1 itself at the Optus Stadium in Perth.

A day like this has been recorded for the first time since the 1909 Ashes series in England, when 15+ wickets fell on the first day of a Test match.

On November 21 2025, we witnessed 19 wickets fall on the opening Ashes day at Perth. Who led the charge?

For Australia it was their ever-reliable Mitchell Starc and for England it was their skipper Ben Stokes.

The duo shared 12 wickets between them across the 1st and 2nd innings. Starc inflicted a 172-run all-out of England, making it the 3rd shortest Ashes innings at the land down under.

Mitchell Starc registered his best-ever Test bowling figures of 7/58, and became only the 2nd Australian to scalp a 7-wicket haul on the opening Ashes day in the 21st century.

Debutant Brendan Doggett (2/27) and Cameron Green (1/10) took the remaining 3 wickets

In the 2nd innings, Ben Stokes ended with figures of 5/23 off just 6 overs, while Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse took 2 wickets each.

The 19 wickets on day 1 is the highest number of wickets to have fallen on the opening day of an Ashes Test match in Perth.

It was also for the first time in 100 years, that so many wickets fell on the first day, but how did all that happen? Let's revisit.

England's 1st Innings Marred By Mitchell Starc Mayhem

Mitchell Starc took a wicket in the first over of a Test match for a record 24th time in his career. He dismissed Zak Crawly for a duck off the 5th ball when the Englishman nicked an outside off delivery to hand an easy catch behind.

Starc then trapped the aggressive Ben Duckett for 21 with a plumb lbw. Joe Root, who has a lot to prove in this series, registered his maiden duck on Australian soil after getting caught at slip off Starc, who reduced England to a score of 39 for 3 wickets.

Ollie Pope became Cameron Green's only scalp in the 20th over before Mitchell Starc struck again and removed English skipper Ben Stokes for the 10th time in Test cricket.

Debutant Brendan Doggett contributed to the attack by taking two wickets, dismissing both Harry Brook and Brydon Carse. Starc completed his 7-fer with the wickets of Gus Atkinson, Jamie Smith and Mark Wood as the Three Lions were bowled out for 172.

Ben Stokes' 5-Wicket Haul Left Australia Reeling At End Of Day 1

Following the Mitchell Starc mayhem, Ben Stokes registered his 2nd 5-wicket haul at the land down under and left the hosts reeling at 123/9 at the end of day 1.

Just like Mitchell Starc in the 1st innings, Jofra Archer, too, took a wicket off the first over when he dismissed debutant Jake Weatherald for a duck with an lbw.

In the 15th over, Archer struck again and this time he cleaned up Marnus Labuschagne's stumps for 9. Brydon Carse, then followed up with the wickets of skipper Steve Smith for 17 and Usman Khawaja for 2 off 6.

Then started the Ben Stokes show. His wicket-taking spree began with Travis Head, who fell for 21, with a soft dismissal. Cameron Green was the next to depart for 24 as he handed a simple catch to Jamie Smith behind while trying to play a 5th stump delivery away from his body.

Stokes rounded the day off with the wickets of Mitchell Starc (12 off 12), Alex Carey (26 off 26) and Scott Boland (0 off 2) and completed his 3rd 5-wicket haul (home and away) against the Aussies, who will start day 2 at 123/9 with Nathan Lyon Brendan Doggett fighting at the crease.