England kept chipping away wickets at crucial intervals despite Australia's resistance on a fluctuating day in the fourth Ashes Test between England and Australia at Old Trafford. (More Cricket News)
English pacer Stuart Broad became just the fifth bowler to reach the historic 600 Test wickets as the Aussies ended day one of the fourth Ashes Test on 299-8. For England, all-rounder Chris Woakes scalped four wickets (4-52) whereas Stuart Broad took two wickets (2-68) as Mark Wood (1-60) and Moeen Ali (1-65) took one each. Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh each made 51 as there were some defiance showed by Steve Smith (41) and Travis Head (48) too.
Advertisement
Three years after taking his 500th wicket at the same ground, Broad completed another century to join a hall of fame that includes only four other names: Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Broad’s teammate James Anderson and Anil Kumble. Among fast bowlers, Anderson and Broad stand alone in the pantheon.
Broad’s 600 wickets have come in 166 matches at an average of 27.57, with his Test debut coming back in 2007 against Sri Lanka.
“His statistics speak for themselves,” said Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne, who scored a patient 51. “We know that if conditions are good for bowling, he’s always going to be a handful. But he’s shown through the series and through his career that when it’s not, he can still keep it tight, wait for his opportunity and work a batter out.”
Advertisement
History is against England though. No side has won a Test at Old Trafford after winning the toss and bowling. But odd things have happened in Test matches recently and with the inception of 'Bazball', nothing can be assured with the likes of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow are in their side.
England all-rounder Chris Woakes kept the Aussie batters under pressure with his inch-perfect bowling. Woakes bowled superbly all day to claim 4-52 in 19 overs, with Australia finishing one run shy of 300.
Woakes picked up exactly where he left off in an excellent comeback performance at Headingley, picking off David Warner (32) in the morning session before removing Australia’s dangerous dueling all-rounders Mitch Marsh (51) and Cameron Green (16) that send the Old Trafford crowd in raptures.
The second day promises to be another enticing affair between two teams that have produced exhilarating cricket.
