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Ashes 2023 | Chris Woakes Stars with 4 Wickets as Australia Closes at 299/8 on Day 1

image-lkawsb4jAustralia is on the back foot at the end of Day 1 in the fourth Ashes Test (Source: AP Photos)

The fourth Ashes Test began at Old Trafford, Manchester on Wednesday. Australia finished the day with 299/8, the first day was equally distributed between both the teams or we can say England got the slight edge as they picked few wickets in the last session. England’s captain, Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to field first, knowing the overcast conditions but that was a very brave call because no other side has ever won at Old Trafford fielding first, but the plans were well executed by their bowlers.

Stuart Broad picked a couple of wickets and also reached the rare milestone of 600 wickets. Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers for them, he took four wickets including the twin-wicket over, where he picked the big wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green and turned the session in England’s favour.



Mark Wood and Moeen Ali also grabbed a wicket each. They got the wickets of Australia’s prime batters, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne respectively. Whereas, for Australia, after losing Khawaja early, Warner and Labuschagne made a good partnership. Most of Australia’s batters got the starts but failed in converting it to a big one. Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh scored a half-century. Steve Smith and Travis Head also contributed 41 and 48 runs for the team.

Breaking down the sessions: Both teams battling hard for the glory

image-lkawgd3iSession-wise Overs. Runs & Wickets Figures

It was shared by both the teams as Australia scored 107 runs and lost 2 wickets in 25 overs. Although Australia came up with the aggressive mindset and scored over 4 runs per over. England managed to pick the wickets of both the openers in the first session. David Warner helped Australia to get the strong start but soon fell in the trap, Woakes forced him to play the ball outside the off-stump, and grabbed the important wicket.

In the second session, England controlled Australia's attacking approach and brought the run rate to just over 3 runs per over, even though they were able to pick two wickets only but stopped the flow of the runs. Australia scored 80 runs, losing 2 wickets in 24 overs but lost their key players in this session in the form of Smith and Labuschagne.

Third session belonged to England, as they picked 4 wickets in the session. Chris Woakes was the star with the ball in the session, he took 3 big wickets of Marsh, Green and Carey. England bowled 34 overs in the session, giving 112 runs and picked 4 wickets. England bowlers brought them in the game in the final session, and they bowled with discipline and attacked the stump line.



Conclusion

England edged ahead by the end of last session as they grabbed four important wickets but still if Australia somehow manages to reach 350 runs, it will be an exciting challenge for England’s batters. Australia are on 299 runs by losing 8 wickets while Starc batting on 23* runs and Cummins was on 1* run. 

Australia will be disappointed as they had the very good chance to score a big total on the board but failed to do so. Although, there is still a lot of time left in the test match. England will try to bowl out Australia as early as possible on the second day and try to get the vital first innings lead. It will be thrilling to watch which team will come out on top after the end of the second day.