Chris Woakes (4-52) and Stuart Broad (2-68) kept England in the Ashes as Australia closed on 299-8 after the opening day of the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford.
With anticipation and a small chance of rain in the air, there was no telling who was going to have the upper hand at the end of the day but as the weather held out, a crucial evening session helped England back into the contest.
Australia entered the final session of the day on 187-4 after solid showings from Marnus Labuschagne (51) and Steve Smith (41) but just five balls after tea, Broad brought up his milestone 600th Test wicket by dismissing Travis Head (48).
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Woakes then muted Australia’s attack in the space of one over, taking out Cameron Green (16) via lbw before removing the dangerman Mitchell Marsh (51) just three balls later as Jonny Bairstow took a sensational catch, ending Marsh’s troublesome almost run-a-ball innings.
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Chris Woakes traps Cameron Green on 16, breaking an important partnership
Mitchell Starc (23no) and Alex Carey (20) then battled valiantly until the new ball arrived but with the latter falling to Woakes with just over ten minutes remaining of the day, England still have work to do but will remain hopeful they can eke a result out of this Ashes-defining Test before rain hits later in the week.
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Australian partnerships frustrate as wickets are hard earnt
The ever-reliable Broad was handed the first ball of the fourth Test and he took his chance to test the Aussie openers early on, finding the breakthrough for his 599th Test wicket and pinning Usman Khawaja (3) for lbw in just the fifth over of the day.
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Stuart Broad made Usman Khawaja his 599th Test wicket, pinning the Australia opener lbw on the opening morning in Manchester
As the sun then began to break through the clouds David Warner (32) was playing nicely, but he cheaply nicked one behind from Woakes’ full delivery to the waiting Bairstow to put Australia on 61-2 after just over an hour of play.
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Smith and Labuschagne then put on a 59-run partnership that took Australia to 107-2 at the close of the first session but England pounced straight after the break, Wood removing the key wicket of Smith via lbw, a 92mph delivery clearly heading for the top of the middle stump and given after England opted for the review.
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England have a second successful review after Marnus Labuschagne looks to clip Moeen Ali to leg but is trapped for an LBW
Despite the much-needed wicket, Head and Labuschagne then took control and weathered a barrage of seam bowling to secure a 50-partnership and they looked as if they were in for the long haul as the frenetic Labuschagne of the first three Tests was gone.
However, England turned to spin bowling and it worked, Labuschagne bringing up his first half-century of the series then falling on the next delivery he faced for lbw, England opting for a good review as Moeen Ali’s (1-65) delivery was shown to be taking off the top of leg stump.
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Watch Stuart Broad’s milestone wickets from his Test career after claiming his 600th and record 149th against Australia
Broad’s landmark moment then finally arrived in the first over after tea as Head pulled the short ball out to a waiting Joe Root, securing the England talisman’s 600th Test wicket and reducing Australia to 189-5.
England then continued to attack and it was Woakes who returned and took centre stage, securing the wickets of both Green and Marsh within the same over, Bairstow taking a brilliant diving catch for the latter to put the visitors on the back foot.
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Check out Jonny Bairstow’s incredible one-handed catch from the best angles!
Woakes then starred again to bring a frustrating 39-run stand between Carey and Starc to an end, leaving Australia 299-8 and the match in the balance heading into day two.
Jimmy Anderson was the only England bowler not to take a wicket as he ended the day 0-43.
Watch day two of the fourth Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Cricket on Thursday July 20. Build-up from 10.15am, first ball at 11am. You can stream the men’s and women’s Ashes series on NOW.
Sourse: skysports.com
