Australia’s pacers dominate England’s opening order to end the first session of the first day of the final Ashes Test on a positive note on Thursday at the Oval. At the end of Lunch, England managed to put up a score of 131/3, with Harry Brook and Moeen Ali unbeaten on the crease with scores of 48(41)* and 10(28)* respectively. England kicked off the session with their usual ‘Bazball’ style.
They cruised through the first 10 overs scoring at a run rate of nearly five an over. At the end of 10 overs, England is 49/0, with Ben Duckett (37*) and Zak Crawley (11*). Australia managed to bring a halt to the English duo’s scoring rate with Mitchell Marsh bringing an end to Duckett’s bright innings for a score of 41. A half-hearted appeal following a faint edge from the gloves ended Duckett’s stay on the pitch. Cummins saw the opening and introduced himself into the attack to further inflict damage to England’s batting set-up. The Australian skipper removed Crawley from the other end for 22 to further increase Australia’s dominance in the session. Hazlewood added the icing on the cake by chopping off Joe Root for 5. Australia could have enjoyed control if Alex Carey managed to hold onto the ball following an edge from Brook. The young English batter made the most of the opportunity and took the fight against the Australian bowlers. A few edges flew past the third slip as he continued to keep the scoreboard ticking for the hosts.
Moeen Ali held onto the other end taking his time with each passing ball. Brook played the majority of the balls as they built an unbeaten partnership of 58. England ended the session on 131 despite losing three wickets.
