England surge ahead as Ben Stokes claims five late wickets
Australia undone as 19 wickets fall on wild Ashes day
England bowlers dominate to secure opening-day advantage
England ended an extraordinary opening day of the first Ashes Test with a 49-run lead over Australia, as captain Ben Stokes took five late wickets to leave the hosts reeling.
The surface at Optus Stadium in Perth played its part as a record-breaking 19 wickets fell, with England fighting back superbly after being skittled for 172 in just 32.5 overs.
Stokes led the way as England did their own damage to Australia's batting order and left the hosts 123-9 at stumps.
Before Stokes' heroics, Mitchell Starc took career-best figures of 7-58 to leave England up against it. His first wicket arrived in the first over as Zak Crawley (0) fell to Usman Khawaja's catch.
Starc then trapped Ben Duckett (21) lbw before having Joe Root caught by Marnus Labuschagne for another duck, with that wicket being the 35-year-old's 100th in the Ashes.
Ollie Pope, whose place in the England lineup was the subject of fierce debate in the build-up to the match, steadied the ship somewhat, making 46 before falling to Cameron Green, but Starc remained the driving force for the hosts.
He sent stumps flying to remove Stokes (6) and leave England 115-5, and though Harry Brook made a swift 52, Brendan Doggett removed him for his maiden Ashes wicket.
England's final five wickets – three of which went to Starc – then fell for just 12 runs, leaving Australia in position to build a commanding lead, yet England required even less time than their hosts to strike with the ball.
Having missed the 2023 Ashes series, Jofra Archer made an immediate impact by trapping Jake Weatherald (0) lbw off the second ball of the innings, and he would end the day with figures of 2-11, also removing the other opener Labuschagne (2) for England's second wicket.
Perhaps the vital wicket came when Australia's stand-in captain Steve Smith (17) flicked Brydon Carse's delivery straight to Brook at second slip, with the cheap dismissal of Khawaja (0) following to set England up for a strong finish.
Australia would still have fancied their chances of securing a lead at 76-4 but then crashed to 121-9 courtesy of a rampant Stokes (5-23), who took control of the evening session to leave England in an advantageous position.
Data Debrief: Record-breaking start to series
With an astonishing 19 wickets falling on Friday, it was the most ever to be taken on the opening day of the first Test of an Ashes series.
The last time more wickets were taken on the opening day of any Ashes Test, meanwhile, was at Old Trafford way back in 1909, with 20 being captured then.
England had to display their powers of recovery after being dismissed for under 200 runs in the first innings, the third time that has occurred in their last five Tests against Australia.
Stokes led the way with his third five-wicket haul in the Ashes, but England's bowlers were superb across the board, with their average delivery being measured at 141kmph – their highest in a Test since such records began in 2006.
