Mark Wood made a scorching entrance into the Ashes series with a five-wicket haul as England dismissed Australia for 263 on an engrossing opening day of their must-win third Test at Headingley.
England – 2-0 down in the five-match series after back-to-back defeats at Edgbaston and Lord’s – unleashed Wood (5-34) for the first time since December and he lit up Leeds during a devastatingly quick 11.4 overs as he grabbed his maiden Test five-for on home soil.
Ben Stokes’ team closed on 68-3 in reply to trail by 195 with Joe Root (19no) and Jonny Bairstow (1no) unbeaten on their home ground after the dismissals of Zak Crawley (33), Ben Duckett (2) and Harry Brook (3) on another breathless day of Test cricket.
- Scorecard: England vs Australia, third Test, Headingley
- The Ashes: Day one in Leeds, as it happened
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Watch each of Wood’s five wickets as he bowled devastatingly quick on day one of the third Ashes Test
Bairstow was a headline act after his controversial stumping dismissal at Lord’s on Sunday – the chorus of boos Australia captain Pat Cummins and wicketkeeper Alex Carey received showed home fans had not yet moved on and Bairstow made sure he stayed in his crease this time around – but England’s star was undoubtedly Wood.
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Jonny Bairstow made sure he stayed in his crease after his dismissal in the second Test!
The Durham quick crunched Australia opener Usman Khawaja’s leg stump with a 95mph thunderbolt and touched 97mph during a searing morning burst – every ball he bowled was in excess of 90mph with his spell the second-fastest in England since 2005, while he also found notable movement with the Dukes ball.
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Wood then returned in the evening to poleaxe Mitchell Starc (2), Cummins (0), Carey (8) and Todd Murphy (13) as Australia crumbled from 240-4, losing their final six wickets for 23 once Mitchell Marsh (118 off 118) – dropped on 12 by Root – fell after smashing 108 runs in the afternoon session to rally his side from 85-4.
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Watch the best of Marsh’s 118 from as many balls on day one of the Headingley Test
Wood, fellow recalled seamer Chris Woakes (3-73) and Stuart Broad (2-58) had struck struck in the morning – Broad removing David Warner (4) for the 16th time in Tests from the fifth ball of the day and then dismissing Steve Smith (22) in the batter’s 100th Test.
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Sloppiness from England in the field – a staple of the series to date – allowed Australia to recover, with Marsh and Travis Head (39) adding 155 for the fifth wicket after Root grassed Marsh and Head was shelled on nine by wicketkeeper Bairstow.
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Joe Root dropped Marsh on 12 at slip, an error that cost England 106 runs
England’s total dropped catches/missed stumpings has now stretched to 15 for the series – but thanks to Wood they remain very much alive as they bid to become just the second team to win the Ashes from 2-0 down, after Don Bradman’s 1936-37 Australia side.
Australia will retain the Ashes with a draw and secure a first series win in England since 2001 with victory having won last month’s opener at Edgbaston by two wickets and then triumphed by 43 runs in the second Test at Lord’s.
The Ashes – Live
Friday 7th July 10:15am
Boos, boundaries and blistering bowling – Headingley delivers on day one
The opening two Tests were played on stodgy pitches but the Headingley surface had plenty of life in it, matching the Leeds crowd, who had been extra fired up following Bairstow’s contentious stumping on the final day at Lord’s.
The England fans at the ground booed Australia skipper Cummins at the toss but were cheering five balls into the contest when Broad had Warner caught behind.
Wood – taking his place in England’s pace attack alongside Broad, Woakes and Ollie Robinson with James Anderson and Josh Tongue rested – made spectators gasp when he bowled a delivery to Marnus Labuschagne of 96.5mph.
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Watch the best angles of the ball Wood bowled that dismissed Usman Khawaja in the morning session
Wood was rewarded for a ferocious spell when he castled Khawaja while Woakes, playing his first Test since March 2022, nicked off Labuschagne for 21 before Smith clipped Broad behind to Bairstow – relief for Bairstow who had shelled Smith on four.
England should have had Australia five down at the break but Bairstow dropped Head down the leg-side off Wood, while Root then suffered a case of butterfingers early in the second session when Marsh edged Woakes into the slip cordon.
Marsh – playing his first Test since 2019 as a replacement for fellow all-rounder Cameron Green (hamstring) – made the most of his reprieve, peppering the boundary to the tune of 17 fours and four sixes as he dominated his hundred-plus stand with Head.
Marsh latched onto anything short as he racked up the third-fastest Test hundred at Headingley, from 102 balls, and his maiden ton outside Australia having scored two centuries against England at home during the 2017-18 Ashes series.
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Marsh brought up his first century outside Australia from just 102 deliveries
The true Leeds pitch was akin to the firm surfaces Marsh has become accustomed to playing on in his native Perth, offering good value for shots, but it also offered encouragement for bowlers and Wood revelled in that fact.
After Marsh clipped Woakes to Crawley at slip moments before the tea break, Wood shredded Australia’s lower middle order and tail upon the resumption, bowling Starc and Murphy to bookend his four-wicket burst in the evening.
Wood also accounted for Cummins lbw and Carey caught at deep point – much to the delight of the England supporters, who would not let those two players forget the part they played in Bairstow’s headline-grabbing stumping in the capital on Sunday.
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Carey had been knocked on the back of the helmet the ball before being dismissed but was fit to field and took a superb catch to dismiss Duckett after the left-hander snicked Cummins behind in the fourth over of England’s reply.
Brook made just three in his first innings at No 3 since being elevated to that spot following Ollie Pope’s series-ending shoulder injury, edging Cummins to Smith at slip in the sixth over to leave England 22-2, while Marsh continued his fine day by having Crawley caught behind – a wicket that brought Bairstow to the crease.
Watch day two of the third Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Cricket on Friday. 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
